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Chapter 596: Grass Knot Records

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It rained for three days.

The three days of rain washed the earth and beat down the osmanthus, causing the land to be wet and all the houses to be filled with humidity. Even after the people wiped the blankets they used at night to sleep, they would still be wet.

This was how it was during this season.

During the three days, very few people left their houses except to hunt. Only when it occasionally stopped raining would a few children run out barefooted to play in the mud. Their happy laughter rang in the air.

Usually, at this moment, Ugly Little Thing would bug Su Ming and pick up a handful of mud not too far away from her house to mould it into an unidentifiable animal.

Every single time, Su Ming would play with her with a smile on his face. As he looked at this kind and adorable girl, he remembered his childhood.

Yet now, what surrounded Ugly Little Thing's family was grief and silence. Su Ming's request had caused them to struggle greatly. They did not know what to choose.

This was also why Su Ming was gentle to this family, because if it was anyone else, then this would not even be a choice. After all, how difficult would it be to choose between a child they picked off the streets compared to their own daughter?

Ugly Little Thing's father was silent. His wife was also silent. Their gazes would always move between Su Ming and Ugly Little Thing. They would look at the birthmark on Ugly Little Thing's face and her thin body, and their hearts would clench in pain.

But when their gazes fell on Su Ming's body, that pale face, that frail body, and the understanding gaze, as well as the expression on his face that treated them as parents, the couple's hearts would clench in pain once again.

There were four days left, then it would be time for them to make their choice…

"Pa, you said that we have to give life to dolls when we create them, but just what sort of thoughts do you need to be able to give life to dolls?" Su Ming looked at Ugly Little Thing's father and asked softly.

On the fourth day since the people from Evil Spirit Sect left, Su Ming placed some blades of grass before his father and started weaving the grass with his head bent downwards.

"Everyone needs to be moved… Only when they feel touched in their hearts would they be able to create dolls with life," Ugly Little Thing's father answered gently, looking at Su Ming, but the complicated gaze in his eyes could not be hidden away.

"The dolls your pa once made did not have any life. It was only when your brother Xi Er was born and I heard his cries that I managed to create the first doll with life. I was standing outside his room back then." For the first time, Ugly Little Thing's father called himself 'pa' before Su Ming. The word came out naturally, and there was not a hint of artificialness or intentional acting there. When he said that word, he picked up a blade of grass.

First, he made a single knot, and then made many more on that blade of grass. When there were a dozen something knots, he looked towards Su Ming.

"Before I married your ma, I was a tribe member of Grain Support Tribe. It's a small tribe, and there were only about a hundred of us, but we had a long history...

"I never had the constitution to practice the ways of the Berserker when I was young. I could only be a mortal, but my father and grandfather were the tribe's eternal historians." A smile appeared on Ugly Little Thing's father's lips, and there was a nostalgic expression on his face.

"You know as well that only those who cannot practice the ways of the Berserkers can become eternal historians. They only have one job, and that is to record the tribe's history using the methods unique to each tribe.

"The legacy of Grain Support Tribe is very old, and no one knows precisely when it started. But we know that it is all real from eternal historian records in the tribe.

"The recording method we use is called the grass knot record. We use different grasses and different knots to record history. No one can tell their meanings, only the people who have mastered the method.

"I was my generation's eternal historian, but… the disaster that fell on our tribe brought death and separation to my tribe, causing all of these things to no longer exist. I met your ma and came to this place to stay… I'm just a mortal and I don't have any other skills. Trying to survive is hard.

"But I know how to knot grass, I know how to use these limitless knots of grass to weave dolls…" Ugly Little Thing's father looked at Su Ming. When he spoke, his hands never stopped. He continued weaving, and when he finished speaking, a small human doll appeared in his hand.

That doll was incredibly similar to Su Ming!

"This doll is made of twenty nine knots. I've recorded all twenty nine of my blessings for you in these knots. It's also a doll. I gave your older brother one when he was born, and also another one for your little sister when she was born. Now, I'll give this to you." Ugly Little Thing's father handed the doll in his hand to Su Ming.

"Grass knot records…"

This was the first time Su Ming had heard of this method to record history. It did not matter whether it was when he was in the Alliance of the Western Region or when he was in South Morning, all the tribes he saw did not have this sort of scribe, much less the title of eternal historian.

But he could tell that it was a position similar to the Head of the Guards and the chief of hunters in a tribe.

Su Ming received the doll, but the instant his hand touched it, a sharp, focused glint appeared in his eyes. He could clearly tell that there was a wave of life force contained within it. That life force was very faint, and if his divine sense hadn't slightly recovered, it would have been incredibly difficult for him to notice its existence.

That life force contained a blessing, and there was even a wave of warmth that spread through Su Ming's entire body.

He lifted his head and cast a deep look towards Ugly Little Thing's father. If he was not completely certain that this person did not possess any form of cultivation base and that he was a very ordinary mortal, once Su Ming saw this doll, he would definitely think that this had come from a person who possessed the power of cultivation.

The man's ancient face was filled with wrinkles, and they showed all the trials life had thrown at him. The waist that would bend slightly unnaturally when he stood up looked like the helplessness he faced and the fate he had to deal with during his life had pressed down heavily on his body.

But it was a mortal like this, a normal person like this that had managed to create a doll that contained the power of life. Su Ming had seen many dolls created by Ugly Little Thing's father before, but the life contained within each of them was very weak. It was not enough to cause his shock, but the one in his hand right then had made the scattered power of cultivation within Su Ming's body… show a slight ripple.

'This is related to grass knot records, but more importantly… only when you reach the pinnacle of conveying your meaning through these knots can you surpass the limits of your hands. Because of this, he was able to give thoughts to these grass knots, causing those thoughts to turn into a blessing, despite him being completely unaware of it. These blessings contain his prayer, that is why as long as he is alive, these blessings will stay.'

Su Ming seemed to have come to a little bit of understanding. It was the same principle as when he drew, and how people would have the feeling of the words other people wrote possessing the might of horses charging in a battlefield.

This was all due to a person having reached the pinnacle in a certain craft. It had nothing to do with cultivation, neither did it have anything to do with anything else. It was only connected to the heart.

"The grass knots you make do not possess life, because you don't know how to make records with grass knots. How about this? I'll teach you… Your big brother didn't manage to learn it, and your little sister isn't interested in this. You make your pa happy that you like this." Ugly Little Thing's father smiled kindly. He picked up a blade of grass and handed it to Su Ming before he picked another one for himself.

"Using grass knots to record history or thoughts is an ancient method. I don't know everything and can only make simple records. Each knot is different, and with each you make, you must think of the things you want to record.

"I remember my pa telling me this when he taught me…

"It doesn't matter whether it's grass knots or string knots, they will need you to use your eyes to see, your hands to touch, and your heart to feel them. The main point of this is that you need to touch it.

"You must touch and feel the sensation after you make every single knot. It's very strange and mysterious, and I'm not capable of describing the feeling to you, but before we had words, our ancestors used this method to record every single detail in their lives." As Ugly Little Thing's father spoke, he tied eight knots.

Time flowed just like this, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed. Su Ming was continuously immersed in the grass knot records and continued learning from his father, but the man was clearly not a good teacher, because most of the time he made the knots based on feeling, and he could not express them in words.

When there were only two days left before Evil Spirit Sect came, Ugly Little Thing's father kept mostly silent. His gazes when he occasionally looked towards Su Ming were mostly filled with complicated emotions as well.

Ugly Little Thing's mother behaved in the same way.

After the rain stopped for a few days, it started pouring once more in the afternoon of next day. The rushing of rain echoed in the air even when midnight arrived.

Su Ming lay in his own room and looked at the rain outside through the window, as well as the occasionally flashing lightning, all while listening to the sound of thunder clapping. He could not sleep.

There were eight knots in his hands, and they were all given to him by his father before he went to sleep. Su Ming's knowledge about grass knot records was still vague, even if he had been learning them for the past few days. He did not have a really clear image in his head.

When Su Ming touched the knots on the grass, he started thinking about his own past.

Ugly Little Thing was in the same room as he was. It was difficult for a poor family like this to provide each of their children a room of their own.

Her even breathing had been following Su Ming for most of the year, leaving a deep memory in his mind that would be incredibly difficult for him to forget. He turned his head around and looked at her. As he watched the sleeping girl, a faint smile appeared on his face.

However, there were tears flowing down her eyes as she continued sleeping. The words she mumbled caused the faint smile on Su Ming's face to turn into a doting one.

"Big brother… big brother… Dog Leftovers... Don't go, I can do it… I'll beat them up…"

"Pa, ma… we'll be together, forever…"

In her world, the memory of her blood brother had become faint. After all, she had just been born at that time eight years go. She had only been told that she had an older brother who had entered an Immortals' sect.

Everything else about her big brother remained a blank. Su Ming's appearance had caused that blank to be gradually filled with his shadow. To Ugly Little Thing, her big brother was Su Ming.

Her greatest wish in this life was that her whole family, including her big brother Dog Leftovers, could live happily together.

Su Ming wiped away the tears at the corners of Ugly Little Thing's eyes, and a determined look appeared in his eyes. He did not want grief to take hold of this family. He wanted them to be eternally happy.

'Ugly Little Thing, I promise you, I will protect your family… up till the end!'

Chapter 597: Parting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Time passed quickly, and the final day before Evil Spirit Sect came arrived.

After it, those people would come and take away either Su Ming or Ugly Little Thing. Then they would send the chosen child to the Sect Elder Zhao.

When morning arrive , the rain stopped. Su Ming went to the osmanthus forest he frequented throughout the year, wiped away the water that had gathered on the leaves, then sat down and looked up.

The sky was clear. There were no clouds. It was completely different compared to the previous day.

Even though it was morning, the light from the sun was still gentle. When it fell on his body, it felt as if it could chase away the humidity that had gathered during these past few days, and it gave him a warm feeling in his heart.

However, the osmanthus in this forest had mostly turned into embellishments on the mud, causing even the mud to possess the fragrance of the flowers. It fused with the sweet smell of the mud after rain, stirring a special emotion in people who smelled it.

Su Ming continued staring at the sky just like that. No one knew what he was thinking about, and neither did he himself. His eyes were trained towards the sky, but his heart had become quiet. He started circulating his Qi that had lain dormant in his body for a long time, causing the one tenth of his recovered cultivation base to slowly start flowing.

The recovery of his cultivation base was even more difficult than he imagined it to be. The injuries he had suffered in the past were simply to grave, and he was also stuck in Destiny's form. Su Ming had thought about this, and after some analysis, he gained an answer as to why Di Tian had not managed to find him.

Perhaps it was precisely because he was in this form that the clone was still unable to find him.

As for why he was in this form and why he managed to escape from the disaster brought to him by Di Tian… Su Ming only remembered a song from a xun before he fell unconscious, but he could guess from this that the person who saved him was the old xun maker.

"Berserker Soul… Once my cultivation base is restored, the most important thing for me to do is to reach the Berserker Soul Realm," Su Ming mumbled. In his hands he held a blade of grass. He tied a knot, then another, and yet another, until he eventually created a doll.

'If pa can gather up such power in his mind and turn it into a blessing even though he is just a mortal… then the strength of this power would be much greater if a person with the power of cultivation made the records with the knots!

'Grass knot records should be a unique Art. It… should be related to Curses!' This was the first thing that appeared in Su Ming's head when Ugly Little Thing's father was talking about the grass knots.

If he focused a Curse towards a person on one grass knot, and then another Curse on another person, then once he had placed many Curses on many knots and turned them all into one single straw doll, then… would he be able to create a different type of Curse?!

'It's said that some Soul Catchers use other people's hair to perform the Curse, but most of these are just rumors. Even if they do exist, the strength of those Curses isn't strong. Those who are truly strong, they can ignore them.

'But if I combine the Curse with these grass knots…' A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He dipped his head down and looked at the grass knots in his hand in silence.

The morning passed by just like that. When noon arrived, the sun became scorching hot, and the light from the sun slipped through the leaves to fall on Su Ming. The sounds of footsteps traveled into the forest from the area outside. Su Ming averted his gaze from the sky and looked over.

It was Ugly Little Thing. She walked over quietly and stopped before him.

"Big brother, you can't go," she said softly, looking straight at Su Ming.

"You'll die if you go. This is our family's problem. I must be the one who goes…" Ugly Little Thing bit her bottom lip. Her voice rang with her determination.

"Come, sit beside me." Su Ming smiled. He moved slightly to make some space beside him. The leaves there were clean. He looked towards Ugly Little Thing.

The little girl scrunched up her nose. Once she sat down beside Su Ming, she opened her mouth, looking as if she wanted to say something. Su Ming simply smiled and looked at her.

"If I will die if I go, then isn't it the same for you?"

"That's different, I… I'm smarter than you! If I go, I might not die, big brother, please listen to me this time, please…"

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Stay by my side for a while." Su Ming patted Ugly Little Thing's head and leaned against the tree behind him, then turned his gaze towards the sky. He no longer spoke.

Ugly Little Thing hesitated for a moment, then she leaned against the tree as well. She, too, looked at the sky. As she continued looking at the blue up ahead, she began to feel as if she had flown up and was roaming in the air.

"Big brother, just how big is the sky…?"

"Very big."

"Then… how high is the sky?"

"Very high."

"Hmph, you're cheating. Then big brother, here is another question, what is behind the sky?"

Su Ming remained silent for a moment, his eyes still trained at the blue sky. Then he spoke softly.

"There is a vortex of fog behind the sky."

"Then what is behind the vortex?" Ugly Little Thing's curiosity was sparked. She blinked and immediately threw out another question.

"There is a galaxy behind that vortex, and there are many stars there, along with many floating continents…" Su Ming mumbled. These were all things that he had seen with his own eyes.

"What is that place?" It was clear that this was the first time Ugly Little Thing had heard about this. She was, after all, still a child, and once Su Ming started talking about these things, she forgot her entire reason for coming to him, instead becoming more interested in his words.

"That is another world." A freezing glare flashed in his eyes when he said that languidly.

"Another world… Are they the same as us?" With her age, it was inevitable that the girl would remain completely clueless as to what Su Ming was saying. She frowned.

"I, too, want to know that. That is why, someday, I will go and see what the other worlds look like, and I want to see how different they are from us…" Su Ming said calmly. The resolve on his face was something Ugly Little Thing could not understand. Perhaps she would remember this scene, and many years later, she would understand what it meant.

The sky gradually turned dark. When dusk arrived, the sky gained a crimson red shade, causing the ground to look as if it had been dyed in a layer of brilliant light. Only then did Ugly Little Thing remember her goal when coming to this place. She immediately stood up and stared at Su Ming.

Ugly Little Thing forced down her fears towards the future and spoke firmly. "Big brother, I'm officially telling you this - you can't go! This is my problem! The person who will be taken away tonight is me. You… You have to remember to take care of pa and ma…"

"If our elder brother didn't die, would you really want to go?" Su Ming stood up and looked at Ugly Little Thing before he asked softly. There was a strange rhythm to his voice, and when it fell into Ugly Little Thing's ears, a dazed look gradually appeared on her face.

"I… I don't want to go. I want to stay with pa and ma. I want to be with them for the rest of my life, but I don't want you to go either. I want our family to be together forever."

Su Ming stroked Ugly Little Thing's head lovingly, then held her hand and walked out of the forest.

Once they were out, the girl snapped out of her daze. She remained stunned for a moment before she broke free from Su Ming's hand and took a few steps, then placed her hands on her hips.

"Big brother, I might be mild mannered usually, but when I get angry, I'm really scary, you know?! You… you can't go!" Ugly Little Thing puffed up her cheeks. She looked like an adult, and when Su Ming saw it, it made him smile.

"Alright, alright, I won' go."

"Really?" When Ugly Little Thing heard those words, she immediately spoke.

"Truly," Su Ming answered with a smile.

When she heard his answer, the girl relaxed and went up to hold Su Ming's hand, then skipped all the way back home, but the terror and fear towards the future could not be hidden away from her face due to her age. The happiness she put in her actions was what she had learned since she was young, and it was showing up naturally.

It did not rain that night.

On that night, Ugly Little Thing's laughter could be heard ringing in the house as their family had dinner, but there was a light wobble to that laughter. Her father was silent, and there was grief on his face, and her mother would occasionally turn her head around to wipe away her tears.

"Dog Leftovers, have some more of these. Here…" mother added more food into Su Ming's bowl, and there was a complicated look in her eyes when she looked at him.

There was one particular dish which she and her husband did not touch, and which Ugly Little Thing was also avoiding. Only Su Ming alone was eating it.

He could not taste the dish, but he could tell that there was a herb in there that had tranquilizing properties; it could make people drowsy. If someone ate too much of that thing, they would fall asleep without realizing it themselves.

Su Ming sighed in his heart. How could he not know what the family was thinking about. In the end, they had decided not to have him replace Ugly Little Thing and have him face a fate in which he might die. Instead, they had chosen to let him have a good rest. When the next day arrived, Ugly Little Thing would be gone.

Perhaps the couple had struggled and argued about this decision, but in the end, they had chosen to do this. Even if they would feel pain, even if they would end up regretting their decision, at this moment, this was what they chose.

Once Su Ming's final dinner with the family was over, he stood up and kowtowed deeply towards them. There was not a single reaction to his actions, because at that moment Ugly Little Thing had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep. It was the same for her parents.

Su Ming might only have restored a tenth of his cultivation base, but it was enough to let this family fall asleep without their knowledge and allow himself to not be affected by that herb.

He carried his father and mother back to their rooms, and once he covered them with their blankets, he looked at the couple, whose hair was now flecked with white. His expression was incredibly gentle when he lifted his right hand and pointed at their foreheads, slowly giving them some of what little remained of his life force. This would allow the couple to be able to recover in the future. Soon, they would no longer be plagued by sickness.

Then Su Ming carried Ugly Little Thing and placed her gently in her room. As he looked at the sleeping child before him, he once again heard the words she had said in her weak voice when she had carried him down the mountain.

After a long, long time, Su Ming placed his right hand on Ugly Little Thing's birthmark. When he lifted his hand after a moment, the birthmark had become much lighter.

Su Ming covered her with her blanket and walked out of his room, then put away the dishes used during dinner. Once he cleaned them, he rolled up his sleeves and started cleaning up the rooms. As he looked at the house that had grown on him during this past year, a reluctance to part appeared on his face.

Chapter 598: Evil Sect!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

'Pa, ma, in my heart, you will forever be my father and mother… I'll be taking my leave now.

'Ugly Little Thing, my dear little sister, you have to be happy…' Su Ming looked at the house blankly, and the warm memories he had gained surfaced one by one in his head.

This was a kind family. Every single member of it was the same, both he had had just arrived and now he was about to leave. This poor and ordinary family presented him with a warmth he would never forget.

Su Ming stood in place for a long time, looking at everything in the house. He then turned around and sat down under the eaves, waiting for the people who would arrive at night.

Midnight drew close. There was no rain right then. The light from the moon shone on the ground, causing the night to not be completely dark, and making the moon look as if it was adding another layer to this atmosphere of separation.

It was quiet all around. Only the snores of Ugly Little Thing's parents occasionally reached Su Ming's ears. That sound, too, brought warmth to his heart.

He closed his eyes and only reopened them after a long time. At that moment, two long arcs flew over from the distant darkness. After a moment, they descended before Su Ming and turned into the two people in black he'd seen seven days ago.

Those two people's faces were slightly pale, and when they appeared, their gazes instantly fell on Su Ming. He did not speak, but merely looked at the strangers coldly, and when he did so, one of them suddenly lifted his foot and walked past him with just one step.

Su Ming did not stop him, but a killing intent the duo did not notice appeared in his eyes.

If they dared to do anything to his family, then even if Su Ming had only recovered a tenth of his cultivation base, he would still attack. Even if he would lose his power once again, he would still kill these two people on the spot.

Fortunately for the Evil Spirit Sect disciple, he did not do anything out of hand after stepping into the house. Once he went through all the rooms, he saw the herbs in the kitchen, and he came out with a slightly odd expression. He cast a glance at Su Ming, then whispered to the other person's ear. After that

The Evil Spirit Sect disciple who had not spoken coldly to Ugly Little Thing's family seven days ago cast Su Ming a few investigative looks before he asked languidly, "Not bad, you have a lot of courage despite your age. What's your name?"

"Chen Su," Su Ming said calmly.

"Chen Su, close your eyes. We'll take you to the sect!"

The two people were clearly bothered by something and did not want to speak too much. The person who spoke waved his arm, and a gust of wind immediately swept up Su Ming. They all turned into long arcs and charged into the sky.

Their arrival and departure had not attracted any attention in the area. Ugly Little Thing and her family were still asleep. They did not know that their disaster had just passed.

Su Ming was held under one of the Evil Spirit Sect disciple's arm as they travelled in the sky. He looked at the ground growing further and further away, watched the place he had stayed in for the year slowly disappear from his eyes, and stared at the family who had given him warmth until they disappeared into his memories. Then, he closed his eyes.

He could no longer see the ground, could no longer see his family, and no longer smell the osmanthus' fragrance…

'Evil Spirit Sect…' At the instant Su Ming closed his eyes, a freezing glare flashed past them.

This place… was located to the east of Eastern Wastelands!

One of the clones Di Tian sent had to set Su Ming to rights, and the other had to defend what Great Leaf Immortal Sect had achieved over the years in Eastern Wastelands.

However, in the end, Di Tian was cautious of the most powerful Immortal from Evil Sect, who was from the east of Eastern Wastelands, and who was the strongest clone from the person who was considered a powerful warrior among the Immortals as well - Ji An.

Evil Sect was located to the east of Eastern Wastelands. There were four great sects who named themselves after the word 'Evil', using it as a uniform title.

These four great sects were Evil Dust Sect, Evil Spirit Sect, Evil Lust Sect, and Evil Immortal Sect, which was at a level higher than the other three sects!

The Evil Immortal Sect acted as the leader and the other three as its affiliates. Then once the Evil Immortal Ji An sent his clone to this place all those years ago, he had laid waste to all the land and the four great sects became the strongest power in the east of Eastern Wastelands.

He even uprooted all the Berserker tribes in that part of the continent, causing numerous tribes to be destroyed and the survivors to be slowly assimilated into Evil Sect. And as time passed by, they would even become disciples of Evil Sect!

There were four black puffs of smoke rising into the sky in the east of Eastern Wastelands. These four puffs of black smoke came from the four sects, and the black smoke from Evil Immortal Sect was incredibly thick. It filled the air above the nine heavens, and it was a sight that brought terror to all who saw it!

The remaining three puffs of black smoke were slightly thinner, but they were still enough to bring shock to onlookers.

This black smoke was a symbol of a strong Immortal within the sect. Only those who had attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm or who were Immortals who had reached Ascendant would be able to bring out this sort of smoke symbolizing the strength of a powerful warrior, once their presence fused with Yin Death Region's aura!

At that moment, in a place far away from the village where Ugly Little Thing and her family were was a mountain that towered into the clouds. These clouds surrounded the mountain, causing it to become indistinct. Only when the sky was completely clear would anyone be able to see it faintly from the distance.

A puff of black smoke that was several tens of thousands of feet wide connected the mountain to the sky. As it churned about, it exuded a great and mighty pressure that caused all those who saw it to feel their hearts tremble.

Strange stones filled the mountain, and while they gave off a ferocious presence, black water could also be seen flowing down them like a stream. An eerie, cold, and sinister air spread out from the mountain.

This was where Evil Spirit Sect was located!

Flagpoles with flags of different colors were placed in many locations on the mountain. Shrill howls would occasionally come from those flags, filled with endless pain and hate. When they were out, they stayed for a long time, refusing to leave.

Entirely black halls filled the mountain. They were scattered and strewn at random, making the mountain seem as if it had been separated into three layers. Only the contour of the hall in the highest level was visible to the eye, and most of its other parts were hidden in the black smoke.

The largest area filled with these black halls was located at the center of the mountain. Quite a large number of them were floating in the air, and there would be a dried up corpse hanging on top of every hall. There were also numerous ferocious birds lingering around, occasionally flying down to eat the flesh.

A large amount of long arcs weaved about the buildings in the sky, creating a lively atmosphere in this eerie air. At that moment, two long arcs closed in on the mountain, side by side, and one of them had a person held under his arm. The person held like that was naturally Su Ming.

He looked at the eerie mountain and the large amount of corpses hanging on the halls. The evil and eerie air from the mountain came crashing into his face.

"Boy, this is Evil Spirit Sect. You're lucky that you don't need to go through nine days of hanging, nor do you need to carry the mountain for ninety-nine days, and neither do you have to be submerged in unclean water. You can become an Evil Spirit Sect disciple straight away. If you are successful in the future, don't forget the both of us."

"But let me give you a reminder, don't get into conflict with others in Evil Spirit Sect for nothing. This place… greatly promotes fights between disciples. All the disciples here already have way more blood on their hands than what you can possibly imagine!" the other person said with a cold and ghastly voice.

Su Ming looked as calm as usual, but even though he might seem composed, all the other people who saw him would only think he was pale with fright, because his skin color was sickly pale to begin with.

'Evil Spirit Sect…' A ghastly smile appeared on Su Ming's lips, one that went unnoticed by the duo. Perhaps no one here could actually compare to the amount of blood Su Ming had spilled.

He wondered, would his arrival here be considered Evil Spirit Sect's fortune… or misfortune…?

Chapter 599: Outer Sect

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The mountain could still be marginally seen from the distance, but the grudge-filled fog surrounding Evil Spirit Sect caused the area to be obscured from view. It sounded like there were shrieks and howls reverberating in the air. Those shrill sounds were enough to make anyone's heart tremble the first time they arrived to this place.

This was precisely how the two people who had brought Su Ming back felt when they first entered the sect. As they flew forward, they misinterpreted Su Ming's paleness, which was normal to him, as fear. That was why they did not see anything wrong in his silence.

As the two people charged forward, they flew around Evil Spirit Sect's mountain several times before they plunged straight towards the foot of the mountain. They landed right before the gate to the mountain, which had an eerie presence seeping out of it and was black in color. It also looked as if there were numerous vengeful souls surrounding it, looking like they wanted to pounce on all those who wanted to pass through.

The people who brought Su Ming had calm expressions on their faces and were completely unbothered by the vengeful spirits. They held Su Ming by his arms and took a few steps forward. Once they passed the mountain gate, a huge flight of stairs leading to the top of the mountain appeared before them.

There were plenty of black statues placed on both sides of the stairs. Each of the statues looked incredibly ferocious and exuded a ghastly and cold presence. They were also the spots where the hate filled spirits gathered.

"If you walk on this path of no return, you will enter Evil Spirit Sect. Boy, do you hear those shrill cries around you?" One of the people who held Su Ming cast him a glance, then spoke with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"If I let go of your hand and make you go up alone, you might be dragged away by these vengeful spirits before you even manage to take a few steps, and then you'll turn into one of them." The other Evil Spirit Sect disciple spoke coldly, and as he did so, he suddenly lifted his right hand and formed a seal before swinging his arm forward.

The path leading up the stairs instantly became different. It might look the same… but an innumerable amount of shadows appeared there. They were shaped as men and women, the elderly and the young. They were all either dressed in rags or were covered in blood, and they were all struggling and howling on the road. Many of them were staring at Su Ming and the two disciples with ferocious expressions, as if they were about to pounce on them.

There were also numerous vengeful souls like these on either side of the mountain stairs. All of them stretched out their arms as if they wanted to grab the trio and drag them to their side.

"Welcome to Evil Spirit Sect. Over here, you will know what is hell and what is terror…" The two Evil Spirit Sect disciples who brought Su Ming to this place smiled at each other and held him by the arms as they strode up the mountain stairs. As they moved up, the hate-filled souls around them swiftly moved away, as if they were incredibly afraid of the two disciples.

The souls did not dare get any closer to the three of them. Some who weren't able to move away in time, once the Evil Spirit Sect disciples holding Su Ming closed in, let out soundless screams and would rather have their bodies crumble instead of touching them.

This was even more so for the vengeful souls that were stretching out their arms on either side of the mountain. The moment the three people closed in, they seemed to have seen a frightening presence, for all of them backed away.

"Senior brother Zhang, there's something off about these vengeful spirits… They usually aren't like this when I return to the sect!" The person by the name of Zuo frowned and spoke in a low voice while continuing to lead Su Ming up to Evil Spirit Sect.

"You're right. Usually, when they see someone, they will lunge forward without caring whether we are from Evil Spirit Sect… I only remember them moving away in fear when they faced the progenitors of the sect, but now…" The other man holding onto Su Ming was also incredibly puzzled.

The two of them could not figure out an answer to this no matter how much they mulled over it. Due to uncertainty, they moved even quicker and brought Su Ming up to the middle section of the mountain. He remained silent all the way. He looked at the mountain, at the many black halls littered all over the mountain, and at the corpses hanging on top of the halls.

In fact, he could even see some long arcs occasionally flying through the sky.

'How could Berserkers practice the cultivation methods of Immortals…?' This was the question that was lingering in his heart when he thought about Evil Spirit Sect.

Before long, Su Ming saw a big man of about ten feet tall standing not too far away on the mountain stairs as the three of them continued moving upwards. He was half-naked and carried a huge basket behind his back, as he walked down the mountain. Once every few steps, he would lift his hand and reach into the basket to grab some minced flesh before throwing it into the air. There were wisps of black smoke on the torn pieces of flesh, and when they fell on the ground, the vengeful souls would immediately pounce on them, devouring each one.

The man had an incredibly ferocious expression on his face. He was also scarred, which made him look terrifying. When Su Ming and the other two saw him, the man also saw Zhang and Zuo. His lips parted into a grin. The scars on his face twisted, making him look as if he had four to five mouths on his face, and they were all laughing savagely at the same time.

He looked incredibly horrifying.

Even if Zhang and Zuo were uncomfortable when they saw that smile, they quickly stepped to the side and made way for the man.

"Greetings, senior brother Shan." The duo wrapped their fists in their palms towards the man in respect.

When the man approached them, Su Ming saw a red glare lying in his pupils. If he looked into the man's eyes for a prolonged period of time, he would feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Why did you bring an outsider back to the sect?" When the man walked over to them, he grabbed another handful of torn flesh and tossed it to the side, making the vengeful spirits pounce on it and devour it without care for anything else.

"Senior brother Shan, this person is Chen's family, who Sect Elder Zhao asked for us to bring back when we went out of the mountain. He's Chen Da Xi's younger brother," Zhang immediately said while still holding onto Su Ming.

"Chen Da Xi…" The man cast a sideways glance towards Su Ming, and a strange look appeared on his face. When his lips split into a grin, he grabbed a piece of torn flesh from the basket and gave it to Su Ming.

"I see, so it was junior brother Chen. I don't have a welcoming gift for you, so I'll give you this piece of flesh." When Zhang and Zuo saw this, envy immediately appeared on their faces.

Su Ming felt a thump in his chest, and received the piece of torn flesh before wrapping his fist in his palm and bowing towards the man.

"Thank you, senior brother Shan."

"You don't have to thank me. It doesn't matter which vengeful soul you feed this to, it will end up helping you do one thing. Only Inner Sect disciples are allowed to have this. Treasure it well. If you can survive in this place for seven days, then you can thank me." The man smiled eerily. He no longer bothered himself with Zhang and Zuo but instead began walking down the mountain.

When he left into the distance, Zhang's gaze fell on the piece of flesh in Su Ming's hands. Zuo, who was standing beside him, was also looking at it with a light in his eyes.

Su Ming naturally saw their expressions and laughed coldly in his heart. Not only were these people from Evil Spirit Sect sinister, they also loved fighting among themselves. He had just arrived to this place today and had already bore witness to a scheme.

That man, Shan, had given him this piece of torn flesh at the spur of the moment after he heard of Chen Da Xi's name. By the looks of it, it would seem that he had some sort of grudge against Chen Da Xi.

This might seem like a gift, but in truth, if he was truly a twelve- to thirteen-year-old boy without a hint of power and he was greedy, then judging by Zhang and Zuo's expressions at the moment, he would most probably bring ruin to himself.

'Chen Da Xi… Ugly Little Thing's big brother, just what did you do in Evil Spirit Sect that this Sect Elder Zhao would ask for people to bring your family here, and why would this Shan, who is a Berserker in the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, want to plot against me…?'

Su Ming sighed in his heart and shook his head. Before waiting for Zhang and Zuo to say anything, he handed the torn flesh in his hand to Zhang, who was still holding onto him.

"Senior brother Zhang, I have no use for this thing. Please take it."

Zhang gave him a deep and profound smile, then took away the torn flesh without bothering with any form of courtesy. He cast Zuo a glance, and the violent look that had been in their eyes moments ago disappeared. When they looked towards Su Ming, a hint of praise was now present in their gazes.

"Junior brother Chen, you may be young, but you already know the principles of giving and taking. Not bad," Zuo said coldly.

"Senior brothers, who is that senior brother Shan just now?" Su Ming immediately asked.

"He's an Inner Sect disciple, and we're Outer Sect disciples. We're different… Remember this, Outer Sect disciples can fight among themselves, but if we run into Inner Sect disciples, we have to be careful, because while it's alright for an Inner Sect disciple to kill you, it'll be huge trouble for you if you hurt an Inner Sect disciple." Zhang seemed to have decided to warn Su Ming because of that piece of torn flesh.

"But with your current situation, you'll have your hands full by just trying not to get bullied, you won't have time to bother about offending any Inner Sect disciples."

As they charged up the stairs, Su Ming saw a few other Evil Spirit Sect disciples, and they were all gloomy and silent. When they walked past these people, Zhang and Zuo continuously greeted them, and from this alone, Su Ming could tell that their position in the sect was not high.

He could also tell that this Sect Elder Zhao was also just an ordinary person in Evil Spirit Sect.

After a moment, Zhang and Zuo left the middle section of the stairs with Su Ming and walked to a small path on the side. Su Ming could see a gigantic mountain gate in the distance.

"This is where we Outer Sect disciples belong to in Evil Spirit Sect. If we go any further, we'll reach the Inner Sect. The foot of the mountain is where we keep our pets and also where our laborers stay. Once we walk past this mountain gate, we'll bring you to Sect Elder Zhao. It's not up to us to know where you'll be placed from then on.

"But since you gave us this piece of flesh as a sign of respect, allow me to give you a piece of advice. All the Berserkers who want to walk down the path of Immortals in Evil Spirit Sect need to soak themselves in the Evil Pool and change their blood to activate the passage of Qi of Immortals in their bodies, but only one among ten who step into Evil Pool manage to survive." Zhang smiled eerily and no longer spoke.

In his eyes, this person called Chen Su will definitely not survive past three to five days. It was especially so when he remembered Chen Da Xi's strange death and all the rumors in the sect surrounding Sect Elder Zhao. He was certain that this Chen Su would definitely die.

Soon, they got close to the mountain gate, and when the trio stood by its side, Su Ming immediately saw a gigantic python wrapped around it.

That python was hissing with its tongue out and staring at the trio with a cold and dark look, as if it was about to charge forward and devour the three of them in one bite.

The python was perhaps thousands of feet long, and despite it having wrapped its body around the mountain gate, the remainder of its tail that was not on the gate was still very long.

Chapter 600: Sect Elder Zhao

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The python was entirely black, the same color as the mountain gate. If it did not move, it could be easily mistaken for an ornament on the gate. At that moment, it was staring at the trio with a cold and sinister expression. A wave of murderous aura crashed into their faces, and Su Ming could clearly sense Zhang and Zuo instantly becoming respectful.

"I, Zhang Ren, hereby greet our sacred beast of the mountain gate."

"I, Zuo Xing Xun, hereby greet out sacred beast of the mountain gate." The duo quickly wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed towards the black python on the door.

Su Ming was placed on the ground at that moment, and no one bothered with him anymore.

The giant python hissed as it swept its gaze past Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun. Then, when its eyes fell on Su Ming, Su Ming too looked at it. His power might not have recovered, but he could still sense that the pressure of that python to him was incredibly faint. Based on his judgment, this python was only equivalent to a Berserker in the middle or later stage of the Berserker Soul Realm.

While this sort of ferocious beast might be rare, Su Ming, if his power had fully recovered, could destroy it with just one finger.

Almost at the moment the python looked towards Su Ming, it suddenly started moving at a speed that caused Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun's eyes to swim. Its body shot out from the mountain gate and its huge head appeared five feet away from Su Ming. It even stuck out its forked tongue when it hissed, which was almost touching Su Ming.

This sudden scene caused Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun to be stunned, and immediately after, their expressions changed. They quickly took a few steps back, not daring to stand in the python's way.

Even Sect Elder Zhao would need to be courteous when he saw this mountain guardian python. The two disciples might need to hand this boy to Sect Elder Zhao, but they honestly did not have any need to offend this sacred python, which was rumored to be a creature which harbored grudges for an incredibly long time.

Su Ming stood his ground and did not back down. His expression was as calm as usual, but a fierce look appeared in his eyes, and as he looked at the python staring at him, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Get lost!"

The moment he said those words, Zuo Xing Xun and Zhang Ren's eyes went wide. They had brought quite a large number of people back to Evil Spirit Sect before, and all who saw this python would show respect. None of them would dare to be so disrespectful and tell the scared creature to get lost.

At that moment, there was also a huge different in the feeling Su Ming gave them, as if he had completely changed into another person.

What threw them into an even greater state of disbelief, to the point where they were completely stunned, was how the python withdrew slightly after Su Ming said those words. It hissed even more, and its eyes seemed as if they were flashing, but gradually, it started moving farther and farther back. In the end, right under Zuo Xing Xun and Zhang Ren's dumbfounded expressions, the python retreated back to the mountain gate.

Su Ming remained calm. All ferocious beasts with this level of cultivation would possess unique intelligence. Perhaps other people would think that the words Su Ming said were normal, but the python could feel a murderous aura that made its heart tremble in fear.

From that murderous aura, it could clearly sense that this seemingly weak person was definitely not as simple as he seemed. That was the reason why it chose to slowly back down.

Since Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun remained stunned, Su Ming lifted his foot and walked towards the mountain gate. Once he reached the spot behind the two of them, he paused briefly before saying flatly, "Let's go."

Zuo Xing Xun and Zhang Ren's expressions immediately turned strange when they looked at Su Ming. They took a few brisk steps forward and walked through the mountain gate to step into the territory of Evil Spirit Sect's Outer Sect disciples. The both of them could not calm their hearts. The scene just now kept repeating in their heads.

Their gazes when they looked at Su Ming also became rather uncertain and filled with surprise. Their behavior towards him was also much better than before.

All along the way, Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun's hearts were filled with shock and surprise. In silence, they would occasionally look at Su Ming. When they reached the middle section of the mountain, which was the territory that belonged to the Outer Sect, they moved past several black halls to appear in a courtyard that was situated in a more remote area.

The courtyard was located against a mountain stone. There were three black houses there, and it was quiet all around. There was an oppressive air surrounding the entire area. At the entrance to the courtyard were two statues.

They looked rather similar to the statues on the way up the stairs. There were also vengeful souls surrounding them, causing the courtyard to look even more eerie.

It was especially so for the area above. That place was where the smoke was spreading out from Evil Spirit Sect. Because of that, the sunshine on this mountain was constantly dim, and it would never be bright, giving this place an even colder and more sinister feeling.

Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun stopped outside the courtyard and wrapped their fists in their palms before they bowed deeply towards the courtyard.

"I, Zhang Ren, hereby greet Sect Elder Zhao."

"I, Zuo Xing Xun, hereby greet Sect Elder Zhao. We've brought the child from Chen's family. This person is junior brother Chen's younger brother, Chen Su." Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun bowed down respectfully and did not dare raise their heads.

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He also lowered his head, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed.

He was not too worried about his own safety. Unless he ran into powerful enemies like Di Tian, then even if he ran into those who had gained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm, he would still be able to fight against them if he recovered.

He might only have recovered a tenth of his cultivation base, but he had been observing his own body during the past year, and he had noticed that all his Berserker Bones were still within him. They were all dim though, as if they were covered by a layer of dust. Yet even so, his body was still as sturdy as it was previously. It would be difficult for anyone to try and injure him.

More importantly, his divine sense had recovered a little, and he could open up his storage bag. The small snake might still be in deep sleep and not show any signs of waking up anytime soon, and the crimson dragon be in the same state, but he could already use Han Mountain Bell.

This treasure might be damaged, but its might when activated was still something that should not be taken lightly.

As for the bald crane… Su Ming had not seen it since he woke up, which would mean that it had most likely ran away during the chaos because of its timid nature.

While Su Ming could still protect himself with his current abilities combined with his Enchanted Treasures and the strength of his physical body, he would still choose not to attack if he could. After all, what was most important to him at the moment was to recover his cultivation base as quickly as possible.

'I might not know what is this Sect Elder Zhao's goal, but he won't be thinking about hurting me just yet, not when he thinks I'm a member of the Chen family, or else he wouldn't have needed to go through the trouble of asking someone to bring me here. He would have just needed to go down the mountain once and would have easily dealt with everything once and for all.'

With his experience, once Su Ming gave a brief onceover towards this matter, he could already guess most of what was happening.

At that moment, a hoarse voice came from the courtyard. It was incredibly ghastly, and when it traveled outwards, it caused the cold air around the trio to become so much thicker that the vengeful souls shuddered as well.

"Leave him here. You two can leave now."

Zhang Ren and Zuo Xing Xun quickly obeyed and left the area. When they were far away from the courtyard, the both of them wiped the cold sweat on their faces. They cast a glance behind them, then looked at each other.

"How we live and die is already predestined, and our fate depends on heaven itself. We can't do anything about this, we're just obeying orders…" Zhang Ren shook his head.

Zuo Xing Xun agreed to this, but after a moment of hesitation, he spoke in a low voice. "That's right. This has nothing to do with us. If Sect Elder Zhao dies, it's also because of him… Senior brother Zhang, do you think that Chen… Is he really a sage and a senior who went into hiding?"

"Quiet! This has nothing to do with us!" Zhang Ren immediately shouted lowly with a nervous expression on his face. He grabbed Zuo Xing Xun and took a couple more steps forward before he spoke again in a low voice.

"He should be. Didn't you see how cautious the sacred python was? When have you seen that old thing being so nice before…? This isn't something we can interfere with. We should keep this to ourselves and let it rot in our hearts. We can't tell anyone, or else we might end up offending others."

"Yeah. Thank goodness no one else knows what is going on with this… but… but there were quite a number of people who saw him on our way here, especially senior brother Shan… Oh, right, you're still holding onto his Soul Flesh."

"We have to form a single story about this matter. You don't have anything to do, right? Come, let's talk at my place."

When Zhang Ren heard about that Soul Flesh, a pained look immediately appeared on his face. He scanned the area for a moment before he grabbed Zuo Xing Ren and left swiftly.

Su Ming near the statues and lifted his head. He looked at the courtyard. It was not big, and there was black smoke seeping out from the ground at the moment. They turned into ferocious shadows in midair, and once they dissipated, they were absorbed by the ground. The process repeated itself, causing all those who saw it to be stunned by this strange sight.

When Su Ming looked towards the courtyard, the gate opened by itself without a single sound.

Su Ming did not make a sound. After waiting for a moment, he walked into the opened gate slowly. At the instant he entered the courtyard, the gate behind him closed automatically.

"Your courage isn't too bad. You're just like your older brother when he first came here. This is precisely the quality I want for my disciple!" The moment the gate to the courtyard closed, a hoarse voice reverberated in the air.

"I am Zhao Chong, and I had three disciples, but they all died. Your brother was my third disciple and was also the one I was most pleased with. Before he died, I promised him that I will send his belongings and money back to his family, and he also asked me to accept his brother or sister as my disciple.

"From now on, you are my fourth disciple!"

"You have the constitution of a Berserker, so you aren't suited to practice my Evil Spirit Arts. A year later, I'll send you to the Evil Pool to wash away your Berserker blood, and from then on, you can practice Evil Sect's divine abilities.

"But if you don't want to die in the Evil Pool, then you must take in Evil Grudge Cores… These core will allow your body to absorb grudges, and you'll be able to build your foundation from there." Once the hoarse voice said these words, a gourd flew out from the house in the middle.

The gourd was black. It was exuding black smoke, which formed into the face of a ghost at times. Mortals would not be able to see it, but Su Ming could see it clearly.

The gourd flew to the area before him and fell to the ground.

"The house to the right is your house. You can go there now!" Once the hoarse voice said these words, it didn't speak anymore.

Su Ming picked up the gourd without batting an eye and walked to the house to the right.

'Did he use Chen Da Xi to create a core?'

Su Ming pushed open the door to the house, and cast a glance at the house in the middle through the corner of his eye. His divine sense had yet to recover enough, or else he would have definitely taken a look at just how that Sect Elder Zhao looked.

Chapter 601: Healing

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The room was not a big one. The table, bed, and all the other furniture was covered in a layer of dust. Clearly, no one had been staying in this room for a long time. Once Su Ming cleaned it up, he sat down on the bed and looked at the dark sky outside the window. His eyes began to sparkle.

Gradually, a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips.

'The power of the world here is indeed thick!' Su Ming had noticed this when he was going up the mountain. As he sat on the bed, the feeling he gained from the presence all around him became even clearer.

'As expected of the place where a sect is located…'

There were three reasons why Su Ming came to Evil Spirit Sect. One of them was to resolve the crisis for Ugly Little Thing's family, the second was to help her find the cause for her brother's death, and the third was so that Su Ming could recover his cultivation base as quickly as possible.

The thick presence here was incredibly helpful towards helping him recover, but…

'The grudge is too deep…'

Su Ming frowned. The power of the world here might be thick, but the grudge contained within it was similarly thick. If he stayed here for a long period of time, his personality would definitely be affected.

He remained in pensive silence for a time, then his gaze fell on the gourd, and he saw that the ghost face formed from the black smoke was also looking at him, smiling ferociously. It thought that Su Ming could not see it. After all, he was merely a mortal in its eyes.

Su Ming did not bother himself with that ghost face. He opened the gourd, and an even thicker wave of grudge instantly came crashing into his face. It instantaneously filled the entire room, causing shrill screams to sound in Su Ming's ears.

After a moment, his face turned dark and sinister. He poured out a medicinal core from the gourd, which was purplish black. The thick grudge within it was terrifying.

Yet strangely, when he placed the medicinal core to his nose to sniff it, a medicinal fragrance wafted into his nostrils, and it turned into a refreshing feeling.

Su Ming shook the gourd slightly, and found that there were about a hundred something medicinal cores inside it.

He closed his eyes and only opened them again after a long moment. A pensive look appeared in his eyes.

'This is a very good supplement. If a mortal takes it, they will be able to strengthen their bodies… They will be filled with blood… Just what is this Zhao Chong thinking about?' A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes and he swallowed the core.

He was familiar with medicinal herbs since he was young, and had ample experience when it came to creating medicinal pills. With just one sniff, he could tell the general effects of this medicinal core. Since he could not tell what was going on with that Zhao Chong, he decided to just swallow one of the cores.

The medicine turned into a wave of warmth that flowed through Su Ming's entire body. After a moment, a brilliant glow shone in his eyes. He brought out a few more pills and swallowed them one by one. His cultivation base recovered a bit more after he swallowed those medicinal cores.

When it turned dark outside, Su Ming lay on his bed, circulating his cultivation base within his body as he pretended to sleep. When midnight arrived and everything was silent outside, the cold air in his room suddenly turned thicker. A black shadow floated out from the wall by his side.

The ghost-like figure floated to Su Ming's bed, as if he was observing him. Soon after, ghosts like these floated out from all the walls in the room. Before long, there were about a dozens of them in Su Ming's room. They floated around while going in and out of the room, but they did not make a single sound.

With his eyes narrowed, Su Ming lay on his bed and watched this scene. If he was really a child, then he would definitely be so terrified that he would be shivering when he saw this sight.

However, he was Su Ming. He only narrowed his eyes and looked at them coldly. These were indeed ghosts, but judging by their looks, they had been here for a long time. They continued wandering about the room, and no one could say what they were doing.

This scene lasted for several hours. When the sky started becoming brighter, all the drifting and wandering ghosts suddenly stopped moving and looked towards Su Ming simultaneously.

A murderous look appeared in their eyes. When they looked at him, their gazes seemed to have gained corporeal form. Almost at the instant they looked at Su Ming, they abruptly moved and charged towards him.

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He chose not to move and simply allowed the ghosts to surround him. Once they did so, he saw all of them sucking in a breath in his direction.

With it, Su Ming could clearly feel a hint of his life force being absorbed. A freezing glare flashed in his eyes. The ghosts slowly retreated once they absorbed a hint of his life force. They returned to the walls around him and disappeared.

The sky turned bright at that moment.

'This room is very interesting…'

Su Ming opened his eyes and looked at the walls around him with slightly cold eyes. He averted his gaze and picked up the gourd on the ground, then continued to swallow the medicinal cores.

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, ten days went by. During them, Su Ming did not get out of the house, neither did Zhao Chong send any word to him. Everything remained silent.

However, when night came, the ghosts would appear. Every single day before morning, they would absorb his life force and leave.

Thankfully, they would only absorb a small wisp, and it was not much of a problem to Su Ming. Besides, when he ate the medicinal cores, he could replenish his life force. Su Ming spent most of his time in absorbing the power of the world in this place and used it to recover his injuries.

On this day, he finished eating all the medicinal cores. He cast a glance at the gourd and picked it up once he stood up. When he stepped out of his room, he pushed open the door to his house for the first time and walked into the courtyard.

It was dusk. The sky was filled with a layer of crimson. The remaining rays of light from the sun scattered on the ground, and it looked incredibly beautiful. With the gourd in hand, Su Ming went to Zhao Chong's house and wrapped his fist in his palm with a respectful expression on his face.

"Greetings, Master, I've already finished all the medicinal cores." To Su Ming, these medicinal cores were still marginally useful. They could make him recover faster.

It might not be much, but if he could get free medicinal cores, he would naturally not let it pass.

Deathly silence filled Zhao Chong's house. The hoarse voice only appeared slowly after a moment.

"You finished them? There were a hundred Soul Nurturing Cores, and you finished all of them in ten days? Didn't I tell you to only take one per day?!" For the first time, a hint of emotion could be heard within that voice.

"My body felt warm and really comfortable once I ate those medicinal cores, so I didn't manage to control myself and ate more," Su Ming said.

He did not know what Zhao Chong was thinking at that moment. After a period of silence, another wave of fog flew out from the house and turned into a dried up arm before Su Ming. It swiftly grabbed his right hand.

Su Ming smiled coldly in his heart, but his face was pale. He allowed his right hand to be held by that arm and sensed a wave of cold air rushing into his body, swimming through his body once before leaving.

"There are three hundred here. You… don't you dare eat them too quickly!" Once the cold air went away, the black fog also retreated, and three gourds flew out from the house before falling by Su Ming's feet.

"Thank you, Master." Su Ming picked up the three gourds on the ground and went back to his house, no longer bothering himself with that Zhao Chong.

'This person definitely has ulterior motives. If that's the case, I'll just get what I can from him.'

Once Su Ming returned to his house, he sat down in his room and brought out one of the medicinal cores to inspect it after he opened the gourd. Then he swallowed it.

Time gradually trickled by, and twenty days went by...

Su Ming had been in Evil Spirit Sect for a whole month now. During this time, the rate of his recovery far surpassed what he had managed outside. His cultivation base had recovered by about fifteen percent as he took in those medicinal cores and absorbed the power of the world in secret.

On this day, he finished the medicinal cores once again. Su Ming gave a lazy stretch and stood up, then grabbed the three gourds before going to Zhao Chong's gate once again.

"Master, I finished the medicinal cores again."

This time, Zhao Chong's house remained silent for a much longer period of time compared to the last time. When he eventually spoke, there was a hint of disbelief within the hoarse voice.

"There were three hundred in there!"

"That's right. I ate them all." Su Ming nodded.

"How many do you eat per day?" Zhao Chong's voice became much darker than before.

"Sometimes I don't take any. Sometimes I take about a dozen per day. My record was a hundred per day," Su Ming reported honestly.

Zhao Chong's house fell silent once again. After a long time, a cold harrumph traveled out.

"Since you like these medicinal cores, no matter how much you want, I will let you have them!" When those words were spoken, a huge gourd about half a man's height abruptly flew out from the opened door to the house and fell with a bang before Su Ming.

"There are two thousand cores here. If you can, finish them within a month!"

Su Ming grinned, then dragged the gourd back to his room and closed the door. Once he inspected it, he started going through his life of recovering his cultivation base again.

But he was smiling coldly in his heart. Zhao Chong was really good at holding it in regarding this. On one hand, it was because he had not noticed the waves of power from his cultivation base, and on the other hand, it also let Su Ming see that whatever it was that he was plotting for, it was something of incredible scale.

'Alright, let's see just where this person's limits lie.'

Time passed as usual, and in the blink of an eye… another month was over.

"Master, I finished the medicinal cores." Su Ming stood at the same spot in the courtyard before Zhao Chong's house. Before him was the empty giant gourd. He even tapped it, and an empty sound rang from within.

Zhao Chong's house remained silent. When the time taken for almost half of an incense stick to burn went by, three huge gourds flew out from inside the house, and each of them contained about two thousand pills. They landed before Su Ming.

This time, this Zhao Chong did not even seem to want to speak.

Another month later…

"Master, I finished them again."

Another month later…

"Master, do you have anymore?"

This lasted up to half a year. During it, Su Ming would take a large amount of medicinal cores from Zhao Chong every month. The number of pills he took already numbered to tens of thousands, and Su Ming was taking more and more in each go. His speed of recovery combined with the power of the world in this place had allowed him to recover almost four-tenths of his cultivation base during these past six months!

This sort of recovery had made Su Ming see hope, but the effects of the medicinal core were practically insignificant by then.

On this day, Su Ming came to Zhao Chong's house once again and said these words, "Master, could you give me another type of medicinal core?"

Chapter 602: Fang

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Time passed swiftly. Su Ming had already stayed in Evil Spirit Sect for eight months. With the large amount of medicinal cores and the power of the world in this place, his cultivation base had finally recovered to half of what it was before!

Yet the more he recovered, the slower his pace of recovery grew. He had already changed the medicinal cores from Zhao Chong thrice, and he would take in large amounts of those each time. When he went to take more medicine three days ago, Zhao Chong had told him, with a hint of resignation in his voice, that he had temporarily ran out of medicinal cores.

Su Ming still looked like he was only about twelve or thirteen years old. He might have grown a little, but there were wasn't much change in him. In fact, Su Ming even had a feeling that his body had reverted to the past and he could no longer return to how he used to look. This meant that he could only slowly grow up as Destiny.

To others, no power from any sort of cultivation base could be detected in him. Only those who had reached great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm would be able to discover anything off about him.

However, there was only one person who was at the equivalent to the great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm defending Evil Spirit Sect, and most of the time he was in isolation. He would completely ignore what was going on, that was why no one could tell just what was Su Ming's level of cultivation.

Zhao Chong was naturally the same, but he had begun to grow suspicious. The medicinal cores he had spent on Su Ming during these past eight months had almost spent all his money, making his heart clench in so much pain that he had wanted to kill Su Ming several times out of rage.

All the disciples he met in the past were never as strange as this one. He had checked multiple times to be certain that Su Ming had indeed eaten those pills and had even made sure that he was just a mortal. He had even used an Enchanted Treasure to make sure that the child was not hiding any sort of cultivation base.

Yet in the end, the answer he obtained revealed absolutely nothing about Su Ming possessing any sort of cultivation base. No matter what, he was just a teenager… that had a slightly bigger appetite.

Or else it would be incredibly difficult for him to continue giving all those pills to him, when it made his heart ache so badly.

Several days ago, he was finally running out of the medicinal cores he could give away, those he had left were ones he could not bear to use on Su Ming. That was why he could only tell the child with a resigned tone that he was temporarily out of medicinal cores.

But he was not completely mortified by this. He had been frequently observing Su Ming during the past eight months, and while his heart ached at his losses, he also had high expectations based on just how much the child took in.

As for Su Ming, the recovery of his cultivation base over the past eight months had caused his divine sense to be much sharper than when he just arrived. He might not have left the courtyard, but he had scanned everything within the Outer Sect in Evil Spirit Sect in secret, and he was very familiar with it.

Su Ming would also not let Zhao Chong slide. However, he could only see a thick layer of fog within the man's room. There was a bloodiness to that fog, and he could vaguely see a person sitting still in it.

Zhao Chong's level of cultivation was also rather strange to Su Ming. He seemed to only be at the equivalent of the Awakening Realm, but when he took a closer look, he found a trace of the waves of power belonging to Berserker Soul Realm.

Besides that, he had found nothing strange about him during these eight months. Zhao Chong just repeatedly game him large amounts of medicinal cores. If Su Ming had been without them, he would have taken a much longer time to recover the power he had when all his bones had turned into Berserker Bones.

That was why he chose not to attack when it came to Zhao Chong. He wanted to see what the other would do once Su Ming finished all his medicinal cores and reached the man's breaking point.

Eight and a half month since Su Ming arrived in Evil Spirit Sect, winter came and snow fell from the sky without stop, making the land seem as if it was wrapped in a silvery white robe. Even the moonlight looked as if it was shining with a silver light.

The entire mountain was dressed in a white winter coat, and even the black halls were the same. The perfect combination between the black and white shades could cause people to have the feeling that they were looking at an ink wash painting when they looked at this scene.

The black smoke that rose up into the sky looked as if it was an eternal existence that would never change in this ink wash painting.

On this day during midnight, Su Ming looked at the snow outside his window. He remembered being with Ugly Little Thing's family during winter last year...

"Big brother, can we make a snowman together?"

"Big brother, you bully! You ruined the snowman!"

"Big brother, why is there snow? I asked pa and ma before, they don't know about it."

A smile appeared at the corners of Su Ming's lips. There were an innumerable amount of ghosts floating about in his room, causing that smile on his face to be completely out of place with his surroundings.

Su Ming was already used to the ghosts' presence. In fact, he had even noticed that all the ghosts that came were never the same two nights in a row, as they moved in and out of the room. When most of Su Ming's divine sense recovered, he even saw that the ghosts did not just exist in his room. The entire Outer Sect, besides a few spots, was visited by these ghosts.

As Su Ming looked at the snow outside, a freezing glare suddenly shone in his eyes. He let out a cold harrumph in his heart and closed his eyes, falling back on his bed, but even though his eyes were shut, he could still sense everything around him with his divine sense.

He saw the door to his house opening without a sound. When a gust of cold wind blew in the courtyard, a person walked in. He was surrounded by black fog and his face could not be seen clearly, but as he walked in, the ghosts in the room froze for a moment before they slowly scattered and left.

The person went to Su Ming's bed and looked at him, who looked as if he was sleeping, since he had his eyes closed. The eyes in the black fog shone with a dark light.

"You little brat, it's time for you to repay me for eating so many of my medicinal cores!"

Naturally, that person was Zhao Chong. With a swing of his arm, a layer of black fog instantly swept up Su Ming and left with him back to Zhao Chong's house.

A freezing glare was hidden behind Su Ming's closed eyes. The man had been unable to discover his divine sense, and Su Ming watched himself being taken into the person's room before Zhao Chong brought him to a Rune that was hidden in the black fog in the room.

As the Rune shone, Su Ming and Zhao Chong appeared within a black mountain cave. From the waves of force from the Relocation, Su Ming could tell that they had not Relocated too far away. They should still be within Evil Spirit Sect's territory.

It might be dark all around, but when Zhao Chong flicked his wrist, dark light immediately illuminated the cave. This was a karst cave, and there were hundreds of dried up corpses around them. All of their their mouths wide open, their eyes lifeless. They only had their skin and bones left, none of them retaining any traces of their flesh or life.

All of the corpses looked different, but their poses were the same. They were all sitting down cross-legged.

"You little brat, you're about to meet your older brother now!"

Zhao Chong was clearly resentful over the fact that Su Ming had taken great amounts of medicinal cores over the past eight months. Once he cursed him, he no longer bothered himself with the child and instead sat down cross-legged on the ground. When he formed a seal with his hands, all the fog around his body immediately tumbled back inside him, which made him reveal his face for the first time.

He was a middle-aged man with a face so pale it gave him an incredibly feeble look. Once Su Ming saw his appearance with his divine sense, his heart lurched.

That face was incredibly similar to that of Ugly Little Thing's father! If their ages were not the same, they would have looked like father and son!

Chapter 603: Senior, Please Spare Me!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

'Chen Da Xi!'

At the moment Su Ming saw Zhao Chong's appearance with his divine sense, the first thing that popped up into his head was this person's identity! The man might look like Ugly Little Thing's big brother, but Su Ming was certain that Zhao Chong was currently occupying it!

'I see, it's Possession!'

The freezing glare in Su Ming's eyes was hidden away because they were closed. He had formulated his guesses earlier, but had overlooked Possession, because there was something in this matter that did not make sense.

Zhao Chong was a Nascent Soul cultivator among the Immortals, and that meant he was equivalent to those in the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm. This sort of person would only choose Possession when they were gravely injured.

Moreover, if they chose to Possess a Mortal, then their power would be greatly affected, and these people would usually choose not to Possess others because of that.

But this Zhao Chong was apparently not the case…

Su Ming swept his divine sense through the karst cave, and the dried up corpses with the same expression and actions all around him instantly made a thought appear in his head.

'Could it be that it's related to his cultivation method?'

The corpses around were clearly Zhao Chong's disciples. Su Ming could already imagine these people consuming the medicinal cores Zhao Chong gave them every single day when they were brought to be his disciples. Once they had taken a certain amount, they would be killed, and then… all of them would eventually end up here as a dried up corpse.

Ugly Little Thing's older brother was the last person Zhao Chong had Possessed.

Su Ming was the person who was about to take his place.

'Zhao Chong had mentioned a time limit of a year before, so he must have wanted me to take one of those medicinal cores every single day for a year… but now, it has only been eight months and he chose to take action. By how aggravated he is, it would seem like he harbors a deep grudge against me…'

Su Ming laughed coldly in his heart. Naturally, he knew exactly what made Zhao Chong act this way. After all, Su Ming had practically emptied out the man's stock, and had even almost made Zhao Chong's heart shatter in pain over his loss.

It would also seem like Zhao Chong could not find it in himself to give up on this, which made it seem that he was caught in a bind. This then turned into a situation where as long as Su Ming stretched out his hand, the medicinal cores would arrive on his palm, right until Zhao Chong's pockets were completely emptied. Then, in his rage, he decided to act earlier.

Su Ming could already imagine the grievance Zhao Chong harbored and the gloom he felt…

Su Ming was not in a hurry to attack. He started sizing up Zhao Chong with his divine sense, and once he scanned this middle-aged man's body, he noticed something strange.

If this person's body truly came from Chen Da Xi, then he should look like he was in his twenties, but his body… now looked like that of a middle-aged man.

'It should be a diabolical cultivation method. Once he Possesses a body, he will start absorbing its flesh and essence…' Su Ming sent his divine sense sweeping through all the dried up corpses in the area.

'He will also absorb the Possessed's life force and his soul. Once he finishes absorbing everything, the body will turn into a dried up corpse… This isn't Possession, this is… cannibalism!'

Su Ming focused his divine sense on Zhao Chong.

At that moment, the body Possessed by Zhao Chong suddenly started trembling, and once he opened his mouth, a layer of green fog swiftly flew out.

An indistinct figure, made entirely of fog, gradually floated towards Su Ming. As it tumbled about, Su Ming could vaguely tell that this was a Nascent Soul!

The Nascent Soul's eyes shone with a fierce glare when it looked at Su Ming.

"You little brat, I'd rather devour you first than absorb Chen Da Xi's flesh and essence! How dare you eat so many of my medicinal cores?! Damn you! I went through a lot to get those medicinal cores, they came from my blood, sweat, and tears!

"You sure ate them happily enough, huh?! Today I'll make you pay back several fold for how much you ate!"

Zhao Chong's anger had been accumulating for the past eight months, and the grudge he harbored towards Su Ming was incredibly great. As he roared, his Nascent Soul rushed forward and closed in on Su Ming.

When he approached him, a ferocious smile appeared on the Nascent Soul's lips. He was practically seeing himself taking over Su Ming's body once he lunged at him. Then, he would absorb his flesh and essence and devour his soul. He could already see himself absorbing all the nourishment that been provided to this body by the medicinal cores the child had eaten during the past eight months.

Ever since Zhao Chong became a Sect Elder in Evil Spirit Sect, he had taken in countless disciples, and all of them could not escape from his palm, but similarly, none of them had eaten as much as Su Ming while making him so utterly mortified by the amount he took.

In fact, he could still occasionally hear those words that had nearly made him cough up blood every single month over the past eight months.

"Master, I ran out of medicine."

"Master, I finished them…"

"Master, I finished them again. Could you give me more this time?"

"Master, could you give me another type of medicinal core? The one I was taking no longer gives me any kind of feeling."

"Master, can't you change it?"

Zhao Chong shook his head to clear his mind, then turned into a dark ray of light that charged towards the center of Su Ming's brows. He grinned ferociously, feeling extremely invigorated. This was a joy from being on the verge of breaking free from the torture he had to endure for the past eight months. During them, and especially in the last few months, he had even wondered whether he had owed this person something in his previous life, because how could he have received such a bizarre person as his disciple…

"Let's see you eating more, you jerk!" Zhao Chong growled.

At the instant his Nascent Soul touched the center of Su Ming's brows, he rushed into his body. His ferocious laughter reverberated in the host's soul, and Su Ming opened his eyes. There was a cold glare within them, but his expression was calm.

In this world, there was nothing else that was less terrifying than Possession to Su Ming!

Unless the person who was Possessing him had a will that was stronger than his, which had been refined into an imperishable will after going through endless cycles of reincarnations in the Undying and Imperishable World, then all people attempting Possession on him were just inviting disaster to themselves!

Clearly, it was impossible for this Zhao Chong to possess that sort of will!

At the instant his Nascent Soul rushed into Su Ming's body, Su Ming lifted his right hand and tapped a few spots on his body in succession. Every single time his finger fell, it would look as if he had placed a seal on his own body.

After several taps, his body turned into an inescapable cage for Zhao Chong, but the man was completely unaware of it at that moment. He was still immersed in his own joy as he rushed straight towards Su Ming's Dantian Region after he entered his body.

This was his habit. Every single time he Possessed his disciple, he would not devour their souls straight away. He would instead choose to suppress them, then absorb their flesh and blood, and take over their Dantian Region so that he could control them as if he was controlling his own body. Then, he would slowly enjoy his meal.

Usually, he would need to take a full year to devour a person, and while the process was slow, it was something he enjoyed immensely.

At that moment, he was merely acting according to habit by charging towards Su Ming's Dantian Region.

"This little brat has indeed been eating a lot of my stuff over the past eight months. Even the color of his bones has already changed, and his flesh as well as his blood also feel slightly different. Ha, it's your fault for eating so much, now it's all mine!"

It was unfortunate for Zhao Chong that he he had not reached the Bone Sacrifice Realm before he was made to change his body by those in Evil Spirit Sect and was forced to practice the Evil cultivation methods. He might have formed his Nascent Soul, but his knowledge regarding Berserker Bones was incomplete.

Besides, Su Ming had all his bones turned into Berserker Bones. If his spine had been the only thing turned, then Zhao Chong would naturally have immediately noticed it.

In his glee, Zhao Chong did not even notice that Su Ming had sealed all the exits in his body. He was still acting on habit and charging towards Su Ming's Dantian Region, and he was getting closer, and closer still…

He could already imagine it—that Dantian Region would be filled with sweetness, and after going through the nourishment provided by the medicinal cores, a large amount of essence would definitely have gathered there. That Dantian Region would also be empty, just waiting for him, the only spiritual entity around, to go and devour it.

In the past… every single one of his encounters were the same.

However, this time…

Zhao Chong charged forward with anticipation brimming in him, but when he arrived before Su Ming's Dantian Region, he was left stunned. He found himself completely dumbfounded, and his jaw went slack in shock.

Unlike what he imagined, Su Ming's Dantian Region was not filled to the brim with essence that had accumulated over the past eight months, there was only a gigantic Nascent Soul sitting cross-legged there, and he was much larger than Zhao Chong's own Nascent Soul!

Perhaps it could no longer be called a Nascent Soul. This was Su Ming's Nascent Divinity!

At that moment, Su Ming's Nascent Divinity had his eyes opened and was looking at Zhao Chong's Nascent Soul calmly. After recovering from his shock, Zhao Chong suddenly let out a piercing shriek.

He shuddered, and as he screamed, he quickly retreated, almost disintegrating in fright. Whatever he thought, he had never expected that the disciple he originally thought was prey… would actually be a monster!

It was especially so when he saw the divine flow of power within that Nascent Soul. This was clearly a Nascent Divinity!

'Nascent Divinity! He's at least at Nascent Divinity! Damn it, how could this happen?! No wonder he took so many medicinal cores! How could this happen?! He's definitely not Chen Da Xi's little brother!'

At that moment, Zhao Chong's mind was a mess. Terror filled his entire Nascent Soul. His mind went blank, and the only thought he had at that moment was to rush out of Su Ming's body. He even had a feeling that he had just jumped straight into a trap. When he remembered just how pleased he had been and what he had done, he felt like crying.

It was like the creature he originally thought was just a harmless little sheep waiting to be devoured had suddenly turned into an ancient, ferocious beast the instant he opened his mouth to devour it while feeling all smug about it.

'Damn it, this monster must be practicing a cultivation method that is similar to mine! He wants to devour me!!'

The more Zhao Chong thought about it, the more he trembled in fear. Right at the instant he wanted to rush out of Su Ming's body, a bang went off in his head, and he was bounced off. Then, to his shock, he discovered that Su Ming's body had turned into a cage… and he could not leave!

He heard a cold harrumph reverberating in his head.

"Is my body a place where you can come and go as you please?" Su Ming's voice was cold. At the same time it reached Zhao Chong's mind, it made the man shiver even more, and his fear grew. As he shivered, he knelt down and started kowtowing repeatedly.

"Senior, please spare me. Please, spare me. I know my mistakes now. I didn't manage to recognize you earlier. It was entirely my mistake. As long as you don't kill me, then I'm willing to serve you. Senior, please spare me…"