612 - 618
Chapter 612: Eleventh Knot!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was dark. The moon and stars shone brilliantly in the sky. There was no snow.
Perhaps it was due to the illumination from the moon, because the ground was silver, causing the night to no longer seem dark. When Su Ming lifted his head, he could see a faint light flickering on the double-story building at the upper half of the mountain.
Su Ming held a white strand of hair in his hand, and there were seven knots on it. When he averted his gaze from the double-story building, he looked towards the strand of hair on his hand, and his eyes sparkled.
He immediately started moving his hands. In an instant, he tied the eighth knot. At the moment it was formed, Su Ming's heart shuddered. He instantly felt a faint wave of power gathering on that knot, as if it was trying to struggle and fight against it.
At the same time, the white-haired old woman who had been waiting for over a month at the ground floor of the double-story building swiftly opened her eyes, and a strange light shone in them.
'You finally appeared!' She formed a seal with both her hands and pointed at the statue with one finger. Immediately, the female statue before her shone with a gentle light, and once it enveloped the old woman, she closed her eyes.
Right then, an illusory shadow appeared beyond the gentle screen of light and around the old woman within the building.
That illusion was of a white strand of hair. It circled the entire room, and as it went around, another knot appeared on it. An ancient presence spread out in all directions, and as the long strand of hair circled, knots were continuously formed on it, and the ancient, primitive presence grew stronger with each knot.
"I am your master. You must obey all of my words!"
An unclear voice reverberated in the room, or more accurately speaking, it echoed in the old woman's mind, causing her body to tremble. She continued changing the seals in her hands and directed the gentle light to fight against the knots in the hair that had appeared around her!
By then, there were eight knots. Each of them contained that ancient presence, causing the voice in the old woman's heart to feel as if it had Branded her soul, and it would not leave.
This scene could not be detected with any sort of divine sense, and if anyone pushed open the door to the tower at that moment, they would not be able to see the illusion of that long strand of hair. They would only be able to see the old woman sitting alone in the building and meditating.
This was a battle of the mind, and it belonged to only Su Ming and the old woman!
At the same time the old woman started fighting against the knots in the strand of hair, Su Ming's heart shuddered, and the world around him started changing rapidly. Moments later, he saw a gigantic lotus before his eyes.
Faint mumbling sounds came from the lotus, uttering words that Su Ming could not hear clearly. A woman gradually walked towards him. Gentle light shone from her body, and when she walked over, he immediately recognized that she was the statue from the ground floor of the double-story building!
However, the woman before him looked as if she had been revived, and with a smile along with an air of holiness, she approached him slowly.
"My protector from my previous life, I've waited for you for many years… You're finally here." The woman's voice was soft and gentle, and there was an air within her words that shook Su Ming's soul.
"You once told me before you died that if time could turn back and if we could go back to the past, we would meet each other again… If you didn't remember me anymore… you would still want us to walk in the snow till our heads turned white."
The woman wore a long white robe, and when she arrived before Su Ming, she looked at him with a gentle look in her eyes and a holy expression on her face. Her beauty seemed to have turned into a radiance that made the world lose its color, and it seemed to have Branded itself in Su Ming's soul.
"Come with me… Let me help you release the seal in your memories…" The woman smiled gently and stretched out her hand before Su Ming, as if she was waiting for him to take hold of it.
Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the beautiful woman before him. She seemed somewhat familiar, but this sort of familiarity… was something Su Ming did not want!
When he looked towards her, he tied the ninth knot on the strand of white hair in his hand, all while having an aloof expression on his face!
At the instant the ninth knot appeared, grief immediately entered the woman's face. Tears fell from her eyes, and they landed on the lotus with a light patter.
With that sound, Su Ming's world was shattered, just like how that tear disintegrated…
At the same time, the ninth knot instantly appeared on the illusory strand of hair surrounding the old woman and the gentle light, and a layer of black smoke spread out. It charged towards the gentle light around the old woman, as if it wanted to rip it apart and rush into the old woman's body.
Her face turned pale. The seal in her hands changed once again, and she started mumbling under her breath, as if she was chanting. She even bit the tip of her tongue and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
That blood instantly disappeared right after it left her mouth.
Soon after, the world that had shattered before Su Ming rearranged itself, but it had turned into another world, and it was dyed in the color of blood…
That blood red shade was not due to blood though, but the maple leaves that had filled the entire sky. They were crimson red, and as they floated down from the above, they drifted with the wind before slowly scattering on the ground.
Su Ming was sitting cross-legged, dressed in a brilliant, long red robe. Lying in his arms… was a woman of incomparable beauty. She was staring at him blankly, and blood was flowing from her mouth, but there was a beautiful and gentle smile on her lips.
She lifted a shivering hand and touched his face. The gentleness of her expression brought back the sense of familiarity to Su Ming, once he saw her. This time, it came charging towards him like an ocean in an attempt to drown him.
"Don't you remember…? You didn't manage to remember me in this lifetime… I will wait for you, and I will wait for us to meet in our next life. I will wait for you to remember me in our next life…"
As the woman spoke, her face gradually turned pale and her breathing slowly scattered. However, her gentleness was Branded into Su Ming's eyes, causing his heart to tremble.
"Kiss me…" The beautiful woman caressed Su Ming's face and uttered the final sentence in her life.
The familiarity in Su Ming's heart turned into a great wave of grief and pain at that moment, for the woman's voice gave him the feeling that he had lost his entire world. He shivered and dipped his head down, looking like he was about to kiss the woman's lips.
Yet right at the instant his lips were about to touch hers, Su Ming closed his eyes, and in his anguish, he spoke softly.
"I only want to use this place to restore my cultivation base and reach the Berserker Soul Realm… I don't have any intention of harming you. Once I leave, I will return to you your freedom… There is… no need for you to do this!
"You forced this familiarity onto me. This memory is also a part of your Soul Capturing Art." When Su Ming opened his eyes, clarity shone within them. At that moment, he tied the tenth knot on the strand of hair in his hand!
At the instant it appeared, the woman before him smiled brokenly and shattered along with the world.
At the same time, the old woman within the gentle light on the ground floor of the double-story building shivered. Her hair no longer remained white, but slowly turned black. The wrinkles on her face gradually faded away and were replaced with smooth, rosy-colored skin.
Her age also regressed, turning her from an old woman to a middle-aged one, and her appearance, too, changed into one of extreme beauty!
She also looked incredibly similar to the woman on the statue, besides her age. So similar, in fact… that they looked like the same person!
The gentle light around her was instantly devoured by the illusory strand of hair once the tenth knot appeared, and that hair charged towards the old woman before it surrounded her. A powerful will that she could not fight against crashed into her and turned into a mighty force of pressure within her soul at that instant!
"I am your master. My will is your will, and you must obey all of my words!"
The old woman shuddered again, and her appearance changed once more. Within an instant, she turned into a girl of twenty, and there was no longer any difference between her and that statue!
Her eyes flew open, and at the same moment a purple glare shone within them, the world that had shattered rearranged itself once more before Su Ming's eyes. He did not see the woman though.
He saw Dark Mountain, the familiar land of his hometown, the familiar voices, and the chimney smoke from his tribe in the morning!
He saw a man with long purple hair holding onto a long blade with an aloof expression on his face. He was walking towards Dark Mountain Tribe, and Su Ming could not see that figure's face. He could only see his back and his long hair dancing in the wind.
Screams of pain and shrill howls came from the men and the women in the tribe. Their faces were filled with despair and lament. Lei Chen shouted and demanded answers from the man while tears fell from his eyes. Chen Xin was stunned. Bei Ling was filled with grief… and elder's face was pale. His eyes… were filled with sorrow.
Su Ming saw the entire tribe being killed by that purple-haired person within an instant. Lei Chen's head flew into the air and fell by Su Ming's feet. Bei Ling protected Chen Xin and was turned into dust. Tong Tong cried, and when the purple-haired person walked past the little girl, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking her life.
Everything turned into a mess before Su Ming's eyes, one covered in blood. He was stunned. He looked as if he had lost his right to speak, until he saw the purple-haired person turn his head to look at him.
Only then did Su Ming see that purple-haired person's cold face, and it was his own.
The man was still holding onto a bleeding human head, and when he looked towards Su Ming, he threw it at him. It landed before Su Ming, right beside Lei Chen's head. The hair on that head was white… and it belonged to his elder.
Even in the moment of death, he still kept his eyes open, and within them was anguish and regret. It made them look almost blank.
The purple-haired man walked towards Su Ming, and when he was right before him, he stabbed the blade in his hand into the ground. With an aloof expression, he tore his shirt open to reveal his chest.
"Kill me!" That was the two words this purple-haired man spoke since the start.
"Kill him… If you kill him, you can take revenge for Dark Mountain… Kill him, and you will be released from your pain… Kill him…"
A voice echoed in Su Ming's ears. He watched in silence, anguish slowly creeping onto his face. He grabbed the purple long blade before him and slowly lifted it from the ground. Then, he turned around and swiftly cut down the space behind him!
Right then, the entire world, along with the long blade in Su Ming's hand, shattered into pieces with a bang… The beautiful woman, who had appeared at some point behind him, also shattered when the blade cut through her, looking stunned even as she broke into pieces.
As the long blade and the world shattered, Su Ming's hands… tied the eleventh knot on that strand of hair!
"Knots are also disasters [1]… I understand now," he mumbled.
Translator's Note:
Knots are also disasters: A case of lost in translation. 结 and 劫 are both pronounced as jie2, so it's a wordplay. What Su Ming means here is that if he tries to use these knots to do something to someone else, he will face disasters.
Chapter 613: Meeting
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The instant Su Ming tied the eleventh knot and the world before him shattered like a mirror and scattered onto the ground. Each of the shards contained the image of the woman looking at him in sorrow, her beautiful face gradually fading into the distance.
When the area beside Su Ming turned into white snow once again, and the low house as well as the weeds in the snow appeared… his field of vision returned to normal. He had returned to the foot of Evil Spirit Mountain.
At the same time, black smoke surrounded the double-story building at the upper middle section of Evil Spirit Sect. The old woman whose face had turned into that of a young woman was trembling at that moment, gritting her teeth while fighting back with a pale face.
Yet all of this changed completely the instant the eleventh knot formed on the illusory white strand of hair!
Its appearance caused the voice that was echoing in the woman's soul to instantly become several times louder, as if it had turned into some sort of law that was booming in the girl's soul. Eventually… that voice was Branded into her soul!
"I am your master. You must obey all of my words!"
The young woman shuddered and coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the black smoke around her swiftly charged into her body. In the blink of an eye, all of it disappeared into the young woman's body and vanished without a trace.
Soon after, the illusory strand of hair with the eleven knots dissipated, as if nothing had ever happened here. However, the young woman's pale face was a clear sign that what had happened just now was true.
'Just who is that person?!' The young woman closed her eyes. She had lost utterly and completely, in a battle of divine abilities in the area where she was the most skilled.
Right up till the end, she had not seen the person's face. The illusion she had forced on her opponent just now was due to her Art. If she had successfully caused him to be immersed in her Art, then she would have been able to see his face, and she could have turned the tables around and made him her slave!
But she failed… Anguish appeared on the young woman's face. She knew full well what those words that were Branded into her soul meant. At that moment, she could not do anything to harm him. This was not a game of words. They were a surge that had Branded itself in her soul.
She knew that even though she did not know who that person was, he would come at some point.
This was a battle of Arts without any sort of physical clash. The battle between the young woman's Soul Capturing Art and Su Ming's Grass Knots Art had swept through their bodies and souls like a storm.
When the eleventh knot had appeared, that battle of Arts ended.
The result of this battle was not death, but a control over the loser's soul.
Su Ming opened his eyes, as he remained seated on the snow at the foot of Evil Spirit Mountain. In his hands he held the white strand of hair. There were eleven knots on it, and he had twisted them around to form a small humanoid.
A hint of fatigue appeared in Su Ming's eyes. The battle of Arts just now was much more dangerous than he had imagined it might be. He had to admit, he had underestimated the old woman. Perhaps more accurately speaking, he had underestimated the young woman who had turned into that old woman.
'This person's Soul Capturing Art has already reached a level where it could affect memories… If she had been a little better with it, then the results of this battle would be harder to judge…'
Su Ming's eyes flashed. He grabbed the weeds by his side and swiftly started weaving them into a small humanoid. After a moment, a weed doll appeared in his hand.
Within that doll was the white strand of hair with eleven knots tied to it.
Once Su Ming finished weaving, he took a look at the grass figure, and he could sense her presence through it.
'She hasn't lost her will. She just has to listen to the person holding onto the doll. This is something her soul cannot resist.'
Su Ming looked at the sky and put away the doll before he closed his eyes and started meditating to train. This was one of the few times when he cleared his mind and trained after coming to this spot. As of then, every part of his plan was ready, and he even had the most important key to launch it. Su Ming could finally calm his heart and wait for daylight to arrive while meditating.
The night passed by quickly. When the morning sun started shining and fell on the ground, it caused the snow to reflect its piercing rays of light, and at that moment, Su Ming opened his eyes. He stood up and smoothed out his robes before he started walking into the distance at a moderate pace until he reached the administrative hall for the laborers.
He saw Qian Chen scolding a few laborers with a scathing tone as he pointed his finger at them. His spit flew everywhere, but the laborers, who had their heads dipped down, did not dare move away, and could only voice their acquiescence.
The difference between Qian Chen's current smug expression was too great compared to how he had behaved previously with Su Ming. Su Ming cast him a glance and let out a dry cough.
When that cough reached Qian Chen's ears, his scolding came to an abrupt halt. He shuddered, and then turned his head around. Once he saw Su Ming, he put on an obsequious expression on his face without a single moment of hesitation and quickly ran over. Once he stopped before him, he looked as if he was about to kneel down and worship him.
"Greetings, senior brother Chen. Senior brother, do you need anything? You can just tell me, and it doesn't matter whether it is possible for me to do it, I will not back down and will complete your request!"
His attitude immediately made the laborers that were scolded widen their eyes, and dumbfounded expressions appeared on their faces.
"Give me a plate to head to the Outer Sect," Su Ming said flatly. He wanted this plate because the number of restrictions increased the further he headed up Evil Spirit Sect. Even though it was not impossible for him to head up without a plate, but if he had it, it would be much easier for him.
Once Qian Chen heard his words, he immediately patted his chest and brought out a blue plate from his bosom, which he handed to Su Ming respectfully.
"Senior brother Chen, this place might only be blue, but it is the plate with the highest authority in the laborers' lodge. With this plate, you can even head to the Inner Sect… but you will be stopped at the mountain gate leading to the Inner Sect. You will only be able to go in when the people from the Inner Sect summon you."
Su Ming received the plate and gave Qian Chen a nod.
The man's spirits were instantly lifted. Su Ming's nod was the greatest acknowledgment to him, and it made him feel quite excited.
Su Ming no longer paid anymore attention to Qian Chen. He took the plate, turned around, and left.
Even after Su Ming left into the distance, Qian Chen continued standing in his spot respectfully for some time, to send him off, before turning around with a brilliant smile. He waved his hand at the laborers, and it was clear that he had decided to let them off because his mood had become much better.
Su Ming walked up the stairs leading to Evil Spirit Mountain. There were statues erected on the sides, and vengeful souls surrounded them, but they did not dare approach. Su Ming walked up the stairs. He did not choose to secretly move during the night, but had instead chosen to move in the morning.
Due to the blue plate, all the hidden seals were released as the blue plate shone. Su Ming moved past them with ease as he walked forward, and when he arrived at the alley leading to Conscience Interrogation Hall, which was the double-story building, he was blocked off by two Outer Sect disciples standing there.
These two disciples' faces were apathetic and their eyes were cold, as if there was not a hint of emotion present within them. They were staring at Su Ming at that moment without a single word as they blocked his path.
With a cool look on his face, he threw the blue plate in his hand towards these two.
"Chen Su, from the foot of the mountain. I've come on orders from Conscience Interrogation Hall."
One of the two indifferent Outer Sect disciples received the plate and cast Su Ming a glance with a frown on his face. He had not received any orders about anyone coming up from the foot of the mountain, but once he cast a glance at the blue plate, he turned around and headed to Conscience Interrogation Hall without a single word.
The young woman was meditating silently with a sullen face within the double-story building at the moment. She had originally thought the person would arrive the previous night, but she had seen no traces of him even after waiting for an entire night. It was bright by then. She believed that the person would be wary, and would only appear at night.
Just as she was feeling frustrated and annoyed, she lifted her head with a frown on her face and looked outside the building.
After a moment, a respectful voice traveled into the building.
"Hall Master, a disciple from the foot of the mountain by the name of Chen Su is seeking audience."
The young woman was feeling incredibly frustrated. Once she heard Chen Su's name, the dumb looking boy from a few months ago appeared in her head. She had paid no attention to him once she sent him away, and now that she heard the Outer Sect disciple's words, she learned that he had been sent to the laborer's lodge. The young woman did not think too much about it and immediately shouted at the disciple.
"Why are you asking me for permission when a laborer asked for an audience?! If several dozens of laborers ask for an audience, are you going to come and ask several dozens of times?!"
An awkward look immediately replaced the indifferent expression on the disciple's face outside the building. There was also a hint of wariness in it. He quickly knelt on the ground and voiced his acquiescence while hate burned in his heart towards Su Ming. Once he got up, he was prepared to leave and return to teach that nobody a lesson when the young woman's voice suddenly came from the tower again.
"Wait, did he say why he's seeking an audience?"
A thought suddenly took shape in the young woman's heart. She had a feeling that it was a little too ridiculous and inconceivable, but she still instinctively threw that question to the disciple.
"Hall Master, that person said he came here on your orders, or else I wouldn't have come and asked you about it…" The Evil Spirit Sect disciple sounded as if he was wronged.
A glint swiftly appeared in the woman's eyes, and after a brief period of silence, she spoke.
"Bring him here!"
The Evil Spirit Sect disciple was momentarily stunned. He might not understand what was going on, but he did not dare show it on his face. He was also beginning to feel uncertain about Su Ming, so he put away the idea of revenge and swiftly walked towards the mountain gate leading to Conscience Interrogation Hall.
Before long, under his guidance, Su Ming appeared in this place once again. He remained as cool as a cucumber all along the way and looked at the plants that still lived despite it being winter, sensing the thick power of the world in this place. When he arrived outside the double-story building, the Evil Spirit Sect disciple hesitated for a moment before he took a few steps backwards and stopped there.
"You may leave now," the young woman's voice said from the double-story building. It voice was incredibly cold, and the Evil Spirit Sect disciple immediately voiced his obedience once he heard her words and lowered his head before he quickly left.
Once he left, only Su Ming and the young woman remained in the area.
"When have I ever sent you an order to see me?!" After a moment, an impatient and cold harrumph traveled out of the double-story building.
Su Ming remained as calm as ever, and once he cast a glance at the building, he spoke unhurriedly.
"Why are you still not greeting me even after you saw me?"
Once those words were said, they reached the young woman's ears and brought her such a shock that she felt as if the world had shattered!
Chapter 614: The Berserkers�� Disaster!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"You!"
The young woman in the double-storey building opened her eyes swiftly and disbelief showed on her face. She even stood up, and with one swift move, she appeared outside the building.
She stared at Su Ming, and the shock in her eyes could not be concealed. She had absolutely not expected that the person who had caused her utter downfall would truly be this boy called Chen Su!
She had even personally taken action a few months ago to check whether he had any connection to Zhao Chong's death, but she had found nothing. This boy was incredibly normal and had ordinary potential. There had been no ripples of power that signified any sort of cultivation base either.
Yet now… When this boy stood before her, she came to a sudden realization that she had already lost to this boy several months ago…
But she still could not believe that this was real. She had wondered who the owner of the voice that had Branded itself into her soul could possibly be. To her, there was a high chance that it belonged to an old monster or a person she was familiar with in the Sect intentionally changing his or her own voice while attacking her.
She had thought about many people, but had completely overlooked this Chen Su. This was a person that was completely out of her expectations!
At that moment, she was looking at him blankly. This person appeared to be twelve or thirteen years old, but the ancient look and calmness on his face, his words, and his actions were definitely not something a boy could have.
"Who… are you?!" The young woman's breathing quickened. She only managed to recover from her shock after a long time had passed, and once she did, she looked at Su Ming with a complicated look on her face.
"Chen Su," Su Ming answered slowly.
"You killed Zhao Chong!" The woman's expression turned even more complicated.
Su Ming gave her a faint smile. He did not admit to it, but neither did he deny it.
Due to his silence, the young woman also fell silent, causing the area to turn much quieter. Only the light rustles of the wind could be heard echoing in the air, and after a long while, the woman let out a bitter smile and bowed to Su Ming respectfully.
"Greetings, master…"
"What is your name?" Su Ming asked calmly.
"Bao Qiu…"
The young woman sighed in her heart. Once she answered his question, her appearance gradually changed into the old woman's appearance, which she had used previously. She no longer needed to test him for anything. Every single word this person spoke brought forth a feeling of absolute obedience from the depths of her soul, and she had a feeling that she had to tell him the truth. It made her understand that besides this Chen Su, there was no one else who could have possibly fought against her the previous night.
"Bao Qiu, I will not enslave you for the rest of your life…"
Su Ming looked at the old woman and did not show any hint of emotion towards the change in her appearance. It was as if it did not matter to him whether the person before him was an old woman or a beautiful young one. To him, it was all the same.
"The power of the world here is thick, and I want to use this place to recover. It won't take me long. Once I leave, I will return you your freedom." After speaking, Su Ming no longer bothered himself with the old woman and walked towards the building.
He entered the house and gave an order from inside, "I'm currently a laborer at the foot of Evil Spirit Mountain, but I want to stay at your place for a long period of time. Make arrangements for this."
Bao Qiu remained silent for a moment, then nodded. This was an incredibly easy task for her. She only needed to say that she wanted Chen Su as her laborer, and no one would suspect anything.
Su Ming stood at the ground floor of the building and looked at the lotus as well as the female statue sitting on it. As he continued watching it, the scenes he saw in the illusion surfaced in his head. In the end, he shook his head and headed to the first floor. This was clearly a woman's room, and it was filled with a faint fragrance. Su Ming sat down there and closed his eyes before immersing himself in his meditation.
As he circulated his cultivation base, the dense power of the world around him swiftly gathered, and he started absorbing it slowly. At the same time he used it to heal his wounds, he also began walking down the path to restore his cultivation base to the pinnacle of his condition.
Days went by, and everything concerning Su Ming working as a laborer at the foot of Evil Spirit Mountain did not bring up any form of attention due to Bao Qiu. People only knew that Conscience Interrogation Hall's Lady Bao Qiu had asked for a laborer, and no one would pay too much attention to this sort of trivial matter.
Only Qian Chen would occasionally sigh deeply in his heart.
As time continued trickling away, winter too, gradually passed. The competition held among Evil Spirit Sect's Outer Sect and Inner Sect had both long since ended.
The disciples started preparing and training for next year's competition.
Su Ming found his rare, hard-earned peace. No one came to bother him, and he could calm his heart down to train. Besides, there was also someone outside who was specifically tasked with protecting him, and he also had plenty of medicinal cores and herbs to help him. As long as he made the request, Bao Qiu would be forced to fulfill it, even though her heart would continuously ache in pain for having to hand him all those things.
Gradually, as months went by and the rainy season arrived, Bao Qiu realized something about Su Ming that made her heart tremble from shock.
She remembered clearly that she had sensed no form of danger from Su Ming half a year ago despite being unable to sense the waves of power from his cultivation base. He had just been like a bowl of still, clear water.
However, as these six months went by, he started giving her the feeling that he was much different compared to the past. Although he was still just meditating calmly and Bao Qiu still could not tell his level of cultivation despite having the power equivalent to a Berserker at the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, the moment Su Ming opened his eyes, he would always cause her heart to tremble and chills to run through every single part of her body. She would feel as if she was surrounded by death, and even if the Brand in her soul did not exist, he would still only need a single thought, and she would die before him.
This feeling would only appear for an instant, and it would only reveal itself at the moment Su Ming woke up after a long period of meditation. Yet that feeling that made Bao Qiu tremble as it manifested itself was like a nebulous fog that surrounded her heart, and she could not see through it clearly.
This was not the first time she tried guessing just what stage or realm this boy before her would reach once his cultivation base recovered completely… In fact, she could not even tell whether this person was an Immortal, a Berserker, or a Berserker who had changed his blood to practice the ways of Immortals… As time passed and as those instances became more common, she began to grow deeply respectful towards Su Ming, and the amount of respect she had for him was practically at the same level as the respect she held for Evil Spirit Sect's Grand Sect Elder.
Over the past six months, Su Ming would not say anything except for his requests. He had placed all his mind and soul on recovering from his injuries. The power of the world here was always rushing over at a maddening pace, as if this place was a gigantic vacuum that was absorbing all the power of the world from Evil Spirit Sect.
If Su Ming had been anywhere else, he would have definitely been unable to last for so long, because the other powerful warriors from Evil Spirit Sect would have come searching for him a long time ago. Yet he did not need to worry when he was here. Even if someone came asking, Bao Qiu would be able to block off all of these people by just saying that she had entered isolation, and she would be able to erase all their suspicions.
During the past six months, Su Ming's cultivation base recovered at an incredibly quick pace, and with the aid of the medicinal cores he obtained from Bao Qiu, it had recovered to eight-tenths!
With this much of his cultivation base restored, he already had the power to fight against a Berserker who had attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm. In fact, once he recovered those eight-tenths of his cultivation base, Su Ming discovered, slightly to his shock, that he had actually reached the peak of his condition when he initially fought against Di Tian all those years ago!
Yet at that moment his peak in the past was only eight-tenths of his current cultivation base. This clear increase in power lifted Su Ming's spirits even more.
He was also quite pleased with Bao Qiu. This woman had obeyed every single one of his orders and had never bothered him when he was in isolation. She would always choose to stay at the ground floor every single time he entered isolation.
Su Ming had been able to tell early on that Bao Qiu and Zhao Chong were different. This woman was not a Berserker who had changed her blood inheritance, because she was never a Berserker, but an Immortal!
'At most, with just another two years, I'll be able to reach the pinnacle of my condition, and that peak will be a state which I've never managed to reach before… With the power I'll have then, I will reach the Berserker Soul Realm and manifest my own statue of the God of Berserkers. Then, the possibility for me to jump past the initial and middle stage and head straight to the latter stage of the Berserker Soul Realm will be incredibly high. In fact, I might even be able to reach great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm…
'At that time I will aim for taking that very first step in Life Cultivation, and from then onwards, I will become a Life Cultivator in this world!' Su Ming sucked in a deep breath. Over the past six months, he had consumed far too many medicinal cores, and all of them came from Bao Qiu.
At that moment, just as he was about to close his eyes and immerse himself in his meditation, his gaze suddenly fell on the stairs. Soon after, the sounds of footsteps reached his ears, and Bao Qiu appeared before him with her beautiful appearance of a young woman, which was a rare sight, since she preferred remaining as an old woman. She walked towards him slowly and placed two medicinal core bottles before him.
She hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but in the midst of her hesitation, he had already closed his eyes. Bao Qiu turned around quietly. Just as she was about to leave, Su Ming spoke behind her.
"What is it? Just tell me."
Bao Qiu stopped moving, then turned around and looked towards him.
"I'd like to keep some medicinal cores for myself…"
Su Ming opened his eyes and looked towards Bao Qiu.
"There are three months before the Berserkers' Disaster arrives. All the members of the sect are in danger, and they won't be able to help me. I can only rely on myself to get through this… If I succeed, then I will be able to stay in the land of the Berserkers for another fifty years, but if I fail… then my existence will be wiped off.
"I've been training and accumulating a large amount of medicinal cores for the past few years. I originally wanted to refine and create a clone to die in my place... but now, I won't be able to create that clone. I'm preparing to use the final three months to stabilize my cultivation base and take a chance to fight against it…
"Evil Spirit Sect will send a Celestial Maiden to help us resist the Berserkers' Disaster at that time, but even if the Celestial Maiden is around, it doesn't mean that we will be completely safe. The risk is incredibly great, so I hope you will allow me to do so, master."
Su Ming focused his gaze on her.
"Berserkers' Disaster? Celestial Maiden?"
Bao Qiu was momentarily stunned. Once she cast a glance at him, a strange glow suddenly appeared in her eyes.
"You're a Berserker!"
Bao Qiu's heart raced for a while. When she looked at Su Ming, her heart descended into greater shock. She had always wondered about his origins, and now she had at least one clue about his background.
"You don't know about this, but all the Immortals who descended in the land of the Berserkers along with the Berserkers who changed their blood inheritance have to face a disaster, and that disaster comes from the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel!
"Originally, all the Immortals who show power that goes past the limit set here will make the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel appear… but with Sir Ji An's divine ability, he changed the laws for the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel's appearance, making it descend once every fifty years. It will last for an entire day, and it will annihilate all the people who show the presence of Immortals on this day.
"Our supreme Sir Ji An of Evil Sect have also ordered that all those who descended to this land must reveal our power on that day to bring the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel on ourselves. This is a cruel and brutal trial for us!"
Chapter 615: The Disaster Arrives!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming's expression remained as calm as ever. He only narrowed his eyes slightly, and the memory of when Hong Luo controlled his body all those years ago to fight against that person from Hidden Dragon Sect surfaced in his head.
In that battle, the one who killed that cultivator from Hidden Dragon Sect was not Hong Luo, but the terrifying halberd that had appeared in the sky. Its appearance had put all the Immortals of the entire South Morning in fear and awe, causing them to find their breathing still during that instant.
That halberd was the Berserker's Sacred Vessel in the Land of South Morning!
Ever since Su Ming came to Eastern Wastelands and learned about Evil Spirit Sect, there had always been a question lingering in his heart. At that moment, he understood.
Yet once he understood this matter, he remembered Di Tian. The man's clone had been completely unbothered by the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel, but he had not chosen to destroy it, and it was clear that there was something about that halberd that made him wary.
However, that Ji An from Evil Spirit Sect actually had the ability to change the law governing the arrival of the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel in Eastern Wastelands. The strength of that ability might be even greater than what was required to destroy it, and the difficulty of doing so might also be even greater than destroying it.
But the Sacred Vessel was still around. Once Su Ming thought of Di Tian's actions and linked them to this matter, he suddenly had a strong hunch that there must be some sort of secret contained within the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel, which was why the Immortals did not dare to destroy it...
'That Ji An sure is bold. He actually had the guts to turn the Sacred Vessel's arrival once every fifty years into a trial for the successor disciples in Evil Sect, so only the ones worthy would survive…'
When Su Ming opened his eyes, he had understood many things. He also remembered that the title of Celestial Maiden was not limited to one person, but was a title shared among many!
This group of people existed in each Sect, and their duty was to help their people who descended to the land, covering the Berserkers' sky so that they could hide away their presences, but, clearly, the Celestial Maiden's use in Evil Sect was not such.
Su Ming cast Bao Qiu a glance before he asked slowly, "How confident are you in living through this?"
"I was originally certain that seven times out of ten I'd live… After all, I won't be the only one resisting the Berserkers' Disaster. There are quite a large number of people in the sect who will be fighting against it, and as long as I can withstand one blow from it, I will be able to make it… Besides, I would have a clone serving as my scapegoat. I wanted to use the its death and the injuries I would suffer to live through this disaster.
"But now… my chances have dropped to three out of ten." Bao Qiu remained composed, as if she was not talking about her own death.
Su Ming fell into a moment of pensive silence before he cast Bao Qiu a glance, and then he smiled.
"You can just ask for my help if you want it. There's no need to beat around the bush."
Bao Qiu's face turned slightly red, but it quickly faded away. She did not speak, because she did indeed require his help, or else, she would be wiped away, and similarly, Su Ming would no longer be able to train in peace.
This thought had begun bubbling in her head a few months ago, when she first discovered just how terrifying Su Ming was, and since she was not trying to harm him, she did not go against the restrictions placed on her soul.
She had restored her original, beautiful appearance before she came here to lay the groundwork for the things she just said as well…
"Three months later, I will help you once during the Berserkers' Disaster. Treat it as a compensation for keeping your soul in custody, using your place to train, and using up your medicinal cores. After that, you and I will no longer owe each other anything." Su Ming closed his eyes.
A hint of joy appeared on Bao Qiu's face. Once she got up, she wrapped her fist in her palm and bowed towards Su Ming before leaving the first floor of the building to return to the ground floor. She sat down cross-legged there, and as unknown thoughts ran in her head, she closed her eyes and started meditating after some time.
Su Ming's training did not stop because of this. He already had an idea of how he would help Bao Qiu, and he also wanted to use this chance to see whether his guess was correct.
'If my guess is correct, then I will have to ask her about it later…' Su Ming no longer thought about this and placed all his attention on restoring his cultivation base.
All his flesh, blood, and bones had turned into those belonging to a true Berserker, and his cultivation base had also returned to the pinnacle of his previous power all those years ago. As time passed and as his cultivation started recovering bit by bit, he gradually discovered that besides his flesh, blood, and bones, the extra two-tenths of his cultivation base had been absorbed by his brain...
Perhaps more accurately speaking, the thing that had absorbed those two-tenths of power was his soul!
Once Su Ming discovered this phenomenon, his heart trembled. He had a faint feeling that once his lost cultivation base was fully recovered, the increase of those last two-tenths would become the key in him successfully reaching the Berserker Soul Realm!
All of this made him think about the xun song that had echoed in his ears before he fell unconscious after his battle with Di Tian…
One month, two months…
Two months later, as Su Ming's cultivation base recovered and slowly increased, his soul gradually fell into a state as if he was asleep. He was immersed in a feeling he could not describe.
It was as if he was being nourished…
When another twenty something days passed and there were only three days left before the Berserkers' Disaster arrived, Bao Qiu slowly walked up to the first floor of the building and appeared before Su Ming.
She looked quite calm and did not have the pale look born of despair of someone who only had three days left. She cast Su Ming a glance and sat down before him quietly. She, who had resumed her appearance of a young woman, had a sacred beauty about her. She looked at the sky beyond the building quietly and waited for Su Ming to wake up.
Even after associating with him for most of the year, she still felt that there was a layer of mystery surrounding this boy before her. At that moment, she turned her eye away from the window, and her gaze fell on his body once again.
As she continued watching him, she suddenly found that this Chen Su seemed to be a little different than before.
He seemed… to have grown a little.
He no longer looked as if he was just twelve or thirteen years old, but appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen. When he closed his eyes, there was still a hint of youthfulness to his face, but she would never forget the ancient look in his eyes that made her feel as if she was looking at time itself when he shifted his gaze to her. There was a hint of grief contained within that ancient look, and when the sun began setting, it would show faintly and indistinctly in the red glow of dusk.
'Just what sort of secrets does he carry…? Just who is he? He's definitely not Chen Su. What is his name? Where did he come from…? He's powerful, so he shouldn't be some random nobody… What sort of person would be able to injure him so badly��?' These sort of questions had been rising nonstop in Bao Qiu's heart during most of the past year.
She started becoming curious about this boy.
It was especially so when the black shade in his hair started gradually fading away to show faint traces of white and purple.
The mixed shades in his hair did not give him an unkempt look, but instead gave him a dangerous air, causing it to be possible for others to look past the boy's physical age, and then, they would be able to see a young man's pragmatism and hardened will.
Bao Qiu propped up her chin on her hand and continued watching him just like that, as if she had forgotten about her imminent death three days later. When the last rays of light faded away outside, darkness arrived, then it went away and daylight came once again. Even then, Su Ming continued meditating, and Bao Qiu continued watching him.
When noon went by and dusk shone through the window once again, landing on both their bodies, Su Ming opened his eyes.
At the instant he did so, he saw Bao Qiu looking at him fixedly. He saw the red rays of the setting sun shining on her face, bringing to light an unparalleled sight.
The woman in the scene had a head filled with black hair, and she wore a pink dress. She had her chin resting on her hands, and her eyelashes were incredibly long… Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
Even the fine hairs of her face could be seen under the rays of the setting sun. Her gradually reddening skin was hidden under the sunlight, and no one could see it clearly.
"I'm looking at you because of the Brand you left in my soul. It'll make me subconsciously attracted to you, and I will feel a sense of cordiality towards you.
"Once the Brand goes away, all of these will no longer appear, and everything will return to normal. Don't misunderstand." Bao Qiu did not avoid Su Ming's gaze. She looked at him and spoke as calmly as she possibly could.
Su Ming smiled faintly and did not speak.
"It's your problem if you misunderstand, though. It has nothing to do with me. I hope you'll keep to your promise, and once your cultivation base is fully restored, you will return me my freedom!" Bao Qiu's heart raced, but she kept a straight face and made sure she spoke without emotion. However, even when the red glow of the setting sun moved away, her face was still rather red.
"Honestly, I quite like your current appearance. You look much better like this than as an old woman," Su Ming said with a smile. There was no underlying meaning contained within his words. He was merely stating the truth.
But when it fell into Bao Qiu's ears, the meaning of his words became slightly different.
She glared at him, but the cordiality within her soul and the inability to resist him made her expression turn gentle. She still did not move her gaze away and continued looking straight into his eyes.
Time continued flowing just like this. When darkness arrived in the world outside and midnight crept up on them to announce the near arrival of the third day, Su Ming started feeling a little awkward.
He might have gone through many things, but he had never met a woman like Bao Qiu who would stare at him so intently, and it was not just for a moment. She was staring at him for an incredibly long time…
With a dry cough, Su Ming decided to close his eyes and continue meditating.
Soon, midnight arrived, and the instant it was about to leave, Bao Qiu averted her gaze and looked towards the dark sky outside the window.
At that moment, there were a dozen something other people from Evil Spirit Sect who were also looking at the sky. They were all sitting quietly in their houses and staring up ahead.
Right then, within the everlasting black smoke at the top of Evil Spirit Mountain was a middle-aged man sitting inside a gloomy temple that worshipped a few indistinct statues. The man wore a long blue robe, and he was the strongest warrior within Evil Spirit Sect - the Grand Sect Elder, Shen Dong!
That black smoke came from him, and it was a symbol of his power, which was the equivalent of a Berserker who had reached great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm, the Immortals' Ascendant Stage!
"Fifty years… How quick…"
His voice was hoarse. As he spoke in an unhurried tone, he lifted his head and looked at the sky. At that moment, a powerful cultivation base that could only belong to those in Ascendant erupted from his body!
At the same time, all the dozen something people in Evil Spirit Sect, including Bao Qiu, started releasing their presence from their locations, and those were the presences of all the Immortals who had descended to this place!
The Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance also released the ripples of their power, perhaps in fear, in silence, in arrogance, or in grief, causing the presences of all the outsiders in Evil Spirit Sect to surge into the sky during that instant!
Chapter 616: Mountain River, Yellow Sand!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Evil Spirit Sect was not the only sect that reacted this way. At that moment, on Eastern Wastelands, Evil Dust Sect and Evil Lust Sect also acted in this manner. They, too, spread out their presences as outsiders and had it move the sky.
It was as if they were afraid that the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel might not detect them. As their presences caused the clouds and wind in the sky to move, the weather in the entire Eastern Wastelands changed, and thunder rumbled loudly in the world.
As the world changed, Evil Immortal Sect, which was the core of the entire Evil Sect and was located to the East of Eastern Wastelands, also had numerous powerful presences surge into the sky.
"What is the Evil Sect? When all the others in all directions cower before the Berserkers' Disaster, only we of Evil Sect will stand and fight against it courageously!
"Now, we will let all of those around us see what they do not dare do. We of the Evil Sect… will not only do it, we will also stand against it! We are already here in the land of the Berserkers, so why should we be afraid of that Berserkers' Disaster and hide from it?! If that's the case, it'd have been better not to have come in the first place!"
A ghastly voice spread out from Evil Immortal Sect and reverberated in the area, turning into a thunderous rumble that spread through all the Evil Sects within Eastern Wastelands!
The other four locations of the continent were a huge contrast to the east of Eastern Wastelands. It did not matter whether it was the Great Leaf Immortal Sect where Di Tian was or the other Immortal Sects, all of them did not dare reveal their presences. It was clear that they wanted to avoid this particular day that came once every fifty years until the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel fell asleep once again.
Perhaps their choice was correct and Evil Sect's actions were mad, but this alone was enough to show just how different their beliefs were!
One of them would fight against the Berserkers' Disaster head on, and the others would watch it with ghastly eyes, and after they avoided it, they would show their fangs!
Just like a fierce tiger and a pack of wolves!
When a fierce tiger ran into an enemy, it would usually lunge on that enemy with all its strength and would rarely retreat! However, when a pack of wolves ran into an enemy, they would usually linger around in the area, and even their occasional attacks would be filled with dark, sinister intentions.
Almost at the same time the four Evil Sects released their presences, a sudden, loud sound that shook the sky and earth suddenly rang out, and a gigantic crack swiftly tore through the sky!
It was as if there was a sharp edge residing in the sky that could tear through everything. That sharp edge cut open the sky, revealing a huge crack that was a hundred something feet long!
When anyone lifted their heads, the crack above would remind them of a scar which wanted to rip open the sky completely.
A great, mighty pressure descended with a loud rumble from the crack to the land. That pressure swept through the continent and covered the entire Eastern Wastelands in an instant!
Su Ming's eyes flew open. He lifted his head and looked at the crack in the sky. He could sense the pressure's existence and even its strength. It… had already surpassed the might of South Morning's Sacred Vessel - the halberd! But Su Ming did not feel too much fear towards this pressure, because his entire body was that of a true Berserker!
However, Bao Qiu was different. She was trembling by his side and her face instantly turned pale.
She did not belong to the land of the Berserkers; she was an outsider. At that moment, as she felt the pressure spreading out from the crack in the sky, her heart instantly started trembling. A huge wave of terror rose within her, and she could do nothing about it. It was as if a mountain that should never have crumbled had just shattered, and it was collapsing right on top of her.
She could not put up too much of a fight under this pressure, as if everything had been predestined. She was fated to be crushed to death by Eastern Wasteland's Sacred Vessel!
'It had only just showed the beginnings of its might, and it's already so powerful… But the Evil Sect members who have descended in this place must have a way to resist this pressure, or else they would have died much earlier when this Sacred Vessel first descended.
'That Ji An from Evil Sect won't be asking the others from Evil Sect to go through this trial either.' Su Ming's face remained as calm as ever. He did not help Bao Qiu just yet.
The woman right now was swiftly forming seals with her hands, as she trembled. Gradually, a holy light spread through her body.
Su Ming stopped meditating and stood up. The power of the world in this place had started becoming chaotic due to the changes outside, and it was no longer suitable for training purposes. Once Su Ming stood up, he walked to the window and lifted his head to look at the sky. He narrowed his eyes.
He could vaguely sense that once the crack in the sky appeared, the spiritual aura in the entire mountain started flowing backwards, inside it, as if it was being absorbed.
The mountain was not the only one affected. More accurately speaking, the entire Eastern Wastelands was affected. An endless amount of spiritual aura was charging towards the sky like invisible, surging clouds. They were devoured by that crack, as if the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel needed this vast amount of spiritual aura to rouse from its sleep.
Su Ming stood still and watched silently.
Bao Qiu was still trembling as she sat behind him, and it was obvious that she was resisting against that might with everything she had!
Time slowly passed, and the power of that pressure grew stronger. In the end, it became so strong that it almost felt like it had gained corporeal form, causing the sky to be distorted in Su Ming's eyes. It also became indistinct for a brief instant.
Suddenly, a sound that reminded people of something having struck another thing, which might have been gold, rang out clearly and echoed for a long time. It spread through the whole Eastern Wastelands.
It was difficult for anyone to determine swiftly what sort of sound that was. Almost the moment it reverberated in the air, Bao Qiu's body froze, and blood flowed out from the corners of her mouth. Her face turned even paler, and as she moved her hands, she quickly tapped a few parts of her body in succession. Only then did she manage to stabilize her cultivation base, which had been thrown in chaos due to that sound.
The entire Evil Spirit Sect was in a state of dead silence at that moment. When the sound rang out, many of the Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance coughed up blood, and some of them even fell unconscious while trembling.
Only the pureblood Immortals who had descended into this land gritted their teeth and persevered, resisting in different manners according to the different levels of cultivation they had.
Shen Dong, the middle-aged Grand Sect Elder in that blue long robe meditating in the black smoke at the top of Evil Spirit Mountain, remained as calm as ever. There was not a hint of change in his expression. It was as if that sound that made many people's hearts tremble was nothing special to him.
Similar events were happening in all four Evil Sects in Eastern Wastelands. All the Immortals who had descended in the land and all the Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance resisted the pressure. Perhaps the latter ones had done so to survive, perhaps they were pursuing strength, or perhaps they had done so for other reasons, but in the end, they had changed their blood inheritance so that they could practice Evil Sect's Arts, and the price they had to pay for this was also incredibly huge!
The price was that they no longer had the right to call themselves Berserkers, and even in Evil Sect, they were degraded to secondary humans. But the price was especially great during the Berserkers' Disaster that would appear once every fifty years. The pressure they had to suffer was far greater than the one felt by those who had descended to the land of Berserkers.
It was as if the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel harbored incredible hatred towards these sort of people. Every single time the Berserkers' Disaster arrived, a large amount of these half Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance would die because of it.
Besides Evil Sect, the striking sound also spread through the entire Eastern Wastelands and into the other Immortal sects. However, due to them hiding themselves, they did not suffer too much damage. Nonetheless, the impact of that sound to their hearts had caused their impression towards the mysteries and magnificence of the Berserkers to increase every fifty years.
Mumbling could be heard in the sects that were not fighting against the pressure like Evil Sect. All of these voices belonged to women, and as they spread out in those indistinct mumbles, a layer of blood-red light covered those sects.
These blood-red screens of light looked would cover the Berserkers' sky, making it difficult for the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel in the sky to search for traces of Immortals. The blood-red screen was a necessary item for all the Immortal sects that had descended to the land of the Berserkers.
This was the Celestial Maidens' divine ability, and also their function!
Eight women in white could be seen within those sects that had descended. All of these women were incredibly beautiful, without exception. At that moment, all of them had closed their eyes and spread out their arms wide open. Before each one was a small red bottle, and within them were drops of extremely valuable blood.
The entire reason behind why they could cover the Berserkers' sky was this blood!
Celestial Maidens were the only ones that could bring out some of the power within that blood and cover the sky. They were the only ones who could do this, no one else.
There was also a Celestial Maiden in Evil Sect, but she was not tasked to cover the Berserkers' sky. Instead, she had another purpose due to Ji An's request. At that moment, as that sound in the sky faded away, the second strike followed soon after. It spread out with a loud bang, and it sounded as if it was incredibly close to the ground. Waves of dark light were spreading out from the crack in the sky, and as it shone, it was as if there was something that was slowly revealing itself from inside!
The second bell chime caused the Immortals who had descended from Evil Sect to tremble even more. As Bao Qiu formed a seal with her hands, she pointed forward, and immediately, an illusion appeared before her. It was a statue, and it was the exact same one as the one on the ground floor!
Once the statue appeared, Bao Qiu's face gained a little color and she looked a little better, but almost in an instant, the third, fourth, and fifth bell chimes traveled forth from the sky, with loud, rumbling sounds.
At the instant they reverberated through the air, the dark light from the huge crack in the sky became much stronger and illuminated the ground, causing the entire sky to look as if it had been enveloped by that light. The crack and the blue light could no longer be seen due to it. The only thing that could be glimpsed was a circular-shaped thing slowly descending from the sky under that layer of dark light!
That was… a monstrously huge bell. It might seem round, but that was just the edge of the bell. As it descended and Su Ming saw its full form, a loud hum started in his head. He took a step forward, and if he had not instinctively controlled himself, he would have walked out of the tower!
'Han Mountain Bell!'
Su Ming widened his eyes, and disbelief could be seen on his face. His breathing quickened in an instant. The Berserkers' Sacred Vessel in the sky was incredibly similar to Han Mountain Bell!
However, there were also differences between them, and it was that the picture of the Nine-Headed Dragon was absent from the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel in the sky!
Instead, it had an endless mountain river covering half of the bell… and the other half was a desert of golden sand!
Chapter 617: Living Through the Disaster!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Great Eastern Wasteland Desert Bell… This is Eastern Wastelands' Sacred Vessel, your people's vessel…" Bao Qiu hoarse voice reached Su Ming's ears from behind in bits and pieces.
Her voice was incredibly weak. The illusory statue before her was also trembling faintly at the moment, as if the bell's appearance had brought such a pressure on it that it would crumble at any moment.
Su Ming's breathing quickened slightly, and he only managed to calm it down after some time. He had his gaze trained on the huge Eastern Wastelands Bell in the sky, and his eyes were burning with a strong flame!
He finally knew just what it was - that sound that seemed as if something had struck another thing that might be gold. That was… a bell chime that came from the bell in the crack, but due to the crack cutting off its sound and the spiritual aura from the world surging into the crack continuously, the bell chime sounded as if it had changed.
But once he thought about it, that sound was clearly a bell chime!
Almost at the moment Eastern Wastelands Bell descended from the sky, eight women dressed in white appeared within each of the Evil Sects in Eastern Wastelands!
It was the same for Evil Spirit Sect. Eight women dressed in white floated into the sky, and judging by their expressions, they seemed to not be too affected by the pressure created by Eastern Wastelands Bell!
These eight women were all incredibly beautiful, and there was an indescribable presence surrounding them at the moment. They were floating in the sky, and all of them had a small red bottle before them.
A drop of fresh blood swiftly flew out from each of the eight bottles, and these eight drops imprinted themselves on the center of these women's brows. It looked as though someone had painted a vermilion mark between their brows. At the instant that happened, the eight women closed their eyes, and a piercing blood-red light burst forth from their bodies.
Their white robes seemed to have been dyed in blood under that light. As it filled the air, it completely enveloped Evil Spirit Mountain, but it was not used to cover the Berserkers' Sky and stop the Eastern Wasteland Bell from detecting the presences of the Immortals who had descended here. The red light was instead used to allow the Sacred Vessel to use its power on these people based on their different levels of cultivation and their limits.
It could be said that the blood-red light was a filter. Each time it changed, it would hide away all the other people's presences and only reveal one person's, so that he or she would be able to have a chance to resist the might of Han Mountain Bell alone!
That blood-red light could also change all the presences of those who had revealed their power within it, causing them to be weaker than their true level of cultivation. With this method, the people could go through what could only be considered as a true trial!
Because the divine ability of Eastern Wastelands Bells would release its power based on the different levels of cultivation it detected. It would not waste even a single bit of its power, neither would it release less than what it required.
Yet even so, this Eastern Wastelands Bell was definitely not an ordinary treasure. This was the Sacred Vessel left behind by the first God of Berserkers in Eastern Wastelands, the priceless treasure used to protect the Berserkers!
It had with it a strike that possessed the power to destroy everything. It did not matter what level of cultivation its enemy possessed, it would bring forth a power that was the exact same as its enemy's level of cultivation, but if its enemy was in a particular level of cultivation, then the bell would show the strongest amount of power possible within that Stage, and it would be so great that it could destroy all those within that same Stage!
Yet even though Evil Sect had already made such preparations and the Berserkers' Disaster would fall on them once every fifty years, there would still be some who would die under Eastern Wastelands Bell!
This sort of indirect control over Eastern Wastelands Bell and change towards the function of the Celestial Maidens was created by Ji An, the strongest in Evil Sect. This method might be crazy and dangerous, but it could make all those within Evil Sect to not want to waste even a single moment of their time and train in a frenzy so that they could fight against the other Immortal sects, because they could use Enchanted Treasures when they fought against the Berserkers' Disaster.
The blood-red screen of light that had been altered by Ji An spread out over all four Evil Sects at that instant, and immediately the first person was chosen to go through the trial from the Berserkers' Disaster, and he was the strongest person in the sect - the Grand Sect Elder Shen Dong!
Su Ming stared at the blood-red screen of light with bright, sparkling eyes. He was looking at the eight women and the blood-red bottles before them. In the midst of his silence, a hint of complicated feelings could be seen on his face.
He remembered the dazed Celestial Maiden that was residing in his storage bag at that moment…
A cold harrumph came from the top of Evil Spirit Mountain. Bao Qiu finally relaxed under the blood-red screen of light, as if all pressure on her had disappeared, but her expression turned even graver, and a deep anxiety could be detected in her bearing. With a pale face, she looked towards Su Ming's back.
She knew that the true trial was about to start!
The blood-red screen of light caused the person who let out that cold harrumph to be the only person who had his presence revealed. A strong, mighty power erupted forth swiftly at that instant, and it was a wave of power that could shake the sky and earth. It caused Su Ming's pupils to shrink, and he lifted his head to look towards that direction.
He saw that black smoke rising into the sky. At that moment, it turned into a gigantic shadow. It was about ten thousand feet tall, and its entire body was a little indistinct, as if it would scatter away if wind blew on it, but the truth was that no matter how strong the wind, it would not be able to blow apart that shadow. This was, of course, unless it was a gust of wind brought forth by someone with a level of cultivation that surpassed those who had reached great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm or were above the Immortals who had reached Ascendance.
The shadow seemed like a man, but due to its indistinct appearance, its face could not be seen clearly. However, the presence spreading out from that shadow caused Su Ming's pupils to shrink.
The feeling he gained from this person's level of cultivation was similar to the one when he faced off against Si Ma Xin after he had inherited the legacy from the second God of Berserkers and had mastered his numerous divine abilities!
Right at that moment, the illusory shadow seeped through the blood-red screen of light, and at the instant he revealed itself in the world, the Eastern Wastelands Bell let out a deafening chime in the sky. That bell did not even cast any sort of divine ability as that chime echoed in the air. It only used its gigantic body and pressed down on the ground.
The bell descended ten feet, and as it sank, a wave that looked like ripples spread out throughout the land. The ground let out a loud bang, and even Evil Spirit Mountain trembled because of it. A large amount of crushed stones fell from the mountain, and cracks appeared on the ground that started spreading rapidly in all directions.
At the same time, the huge, indistinct figure lifted its arms, as if it wanted to push against the sky so that it could hold up the pressure and resist the power of Eastern Wastelands Bell.
A low roar reverberated in the air, and it sounded as if someone had been holding onto their breath for a long time before finally letting it out. As that sound spread out like the muffled roars of thunder, the indistinct figure looked as if it could no longer bear with the pressure. Its arms exploded with a bang, as if they could no longer handle the pressure, and right before Su Ming's eyes, its body shattered completely like a broken bottle as that roar continued echoing in the air.
However, as it broke down, another person could be seen within the crumbling black shadow. It was a middle-aged man dressed in a blue robe with rather long hair. There was an eerie glint in the man's eyes as he shouted at the sky.
"Is this the limit of the power for late Ascendant Stage?! It's still not enough to destroy me!" The middle-aged man was naturally Shen Dong. As he spoke, he flew up and charged towards the bell!
'He's at the equivalent of great completion of the Berserker Soul Realm… the great circle of the Immortal's Ascendant Stage!' Su Ming's eyes sparkled as these thoughts echoed in his heart while he looked at Shen Dong's figure.
'But the presence he showed is not that of a person who has reached the great circle. It's instead at a level below that. He's just showing the power for Late Ascendant Stage. This should be related to the Celestial Maidens' screen of light…'
Su Ming narrowed his eyes. He could already guess the method Evil Sect used to resist the Berserkers' Disaster, and from this, he could also guess that the bell was displaying the limit of the power for a single Stage.
As he sank into his thoughts, he lifted his head and watched with sparkling eyes as Shen Dong got increasingly closer to Eastern Wastelands Bell in the sky. At the instant he was about to close in on it, a wave of ripples appeared from the Sacred Vessel, and that wave turned into an illusory river flowing down a mountain!
At first glance, that river and mountain still were clearly illusions, but they quickly gained physical form, so it soon looked as if there was a river and a mountain in the sky!
The mountain and river were, naturally, the things carved on the bell, and its original form was nine mountains, nine rivers, and nine deserts!
At that moment, what had appeared in midair was a mountain and a river, but no desert! At the instant the mountain and river appeared, Su Ming immediately saw Shen Dong's expression turning incredibly grave. When the river descended, it looked as if it had turned into a long dragon. Sweeping down, it charged towards Shen Dong. At the same time, the mountain let out a loud bang and warped above Shen Dong, crushing down on him.
This might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, only the span of a few breaths had passed since the mountain and river appeared. As rumbling sounds reverberated in the air, the mountain and river disappeared, and Shen Dong coughed up a large mouthful of blood, but he retreated with a loud laugh.
The eight Celestial Maidens changed their footsteps, and the blood-red screen of light over Evil Spirit Sect immediately changed and covered Shen Dong's presence before revealing the wave of power from another person. The appearance of the Berserkers' Disaster in Eastern Wastelands on different individuals made Su Ming see the Immortals and the Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance appear one by one, as the blood-red screen of light changed each time. The people revealed would either make it through the attack successfully… or die in the process.
Shrill screams of pain echoed in the air…
"This is the ninth person…" Bao Qiu said from behind Su Ming. With a pale face, she looked at the sky outside the window.
Su Ming did not speak. Sorrow gradually appeared on his face. He was not sad for the Immortals who descended to this land or the Berserkers who had changed their blood inheritance. He was sad for the persistence of Eastern Wastelands' Sacred Vessel, which had not changed since ancient times…
Even if that persistence was being used by Evil Sect in this time and age for it to become the Berserkers' Disaster that served as a trial for the people in its sect, it still did not change.
Su Ming watched Eastern Wastelands Bell trying to kill all the outsiders, who had revealed themselves by spreading the presence of their cultivation base, and bringing its might on them to fulfill its mission on this day that would only come once every fifty years. He saw its persistence, despite knowing that it would be increasingly more difficult as time passed.
Su Ming closed his eyes. Soon after, a cold chill suddenly surrounded the building where he was. At the same time, the Berserkers' Disaster for Bao Qiu arrived!
A powerful pressure swiftly descended on the building and landed on Bao Qiu's body. She shivered and gritted her teeth to resist it.
Su Ming still stood with his eyes closed.
Chapter 618: Obtaining the Seal!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
'Would I have the right to become its master…?' This thought appeared in Su Ming's heart.
Eastern Wastelands Bell. It was the Berserkers' Sacred Vessel, and was also the treasure left behind by the first God of Berserkers as a blessing for his descendants, one used as an item to intimidate all outsiders… It was the treasure that made even Di Tian, who had sent two of his clones to the place, and Ji An from Evil Sect, to only be able to change the laws governing the treasure's descent, not daring to destroy it! Perhaps they could not even destroy it!
'That one mountain and river is equivalent to the limit of a Berserker in the later stage of the Berserker Soul Realm. If it would bring out all nine mountains, rivers, and deserts, then what level of cultivation would the wave of power that would erupt forth show…?'
Su Ming opened his eyes. Bao Qiu was trembling behind him. There was struggle on her face, and the seals on her hands were continuously changing, as she was gritting her teeth tightly. She did not ask for Su Ming to take action.
As the blood-red screen of light completely exposed the building, Bao Qiu's presence and power as an outsider showed up clearly under Eastern Wastelands Bell.
Her wave of power was between the Immortals' Soul Transformation and Soul Formation. At that moment, as the waves of her power were revealed, Eastern Wastelands Bell descended on her swiftly. The entire building shook. The illusory shadow of the female statue before Bao Qiu immediately crumbled and exploded into pieces. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, and as her face turned pale, she looked as if she was being flattened and would shatter at any moment.
Eastern Wastelands Bell descended another five feet, and it was like a great, heavy force suddenly appearing on a drowning person, as if it wanted to drag him into the depths of the water. It caused despair to appear in Bao Qiu's eyes.
As Eastern Wastelands Bell descended, the faint, illusory shadow of a bell could be seen falling on the young woman. At that moment, it had already landed on the building. It seeped through the walls, and began fulfilling its mission to kill all outsiders.
Su Ming sighed softly and turned around. At the instant the illusory bell seeped through the building and descended on Bao Qiu's jugular notch, he took a step forward. Right at that moment, he lifted his right hand to gently lift the incoming illusory bell that was descending on her!
With it, a shudder racked Su Ming's entire body, but his expression remained as calm as ever. The illusory bell no longer sank down and remained on his right hand. It was forcefully stopped in its tracks.
Almost at the instant Su Ming's right hand touched the illusory bell, Eastern Wastelands Bell let out a long bell chime in the sky. At the same time, a powerful will instantly descended on Su Ming's heart.
The will did not speak, but instead exuded a cold and ancient air. Once it scanned Su Ming's body, it returned to the sky, back to where Eastern Wastelands Bell was. Soon after, an even greater pressure descended once again, as if it wanted to move past Su Ming and crush Bao Qiu to her death.
A mountain appeared in the sky up ahead!
That mountain was a hundred thousand feet tall and towered in the clouds despite being a mere illusion. At the instant it appeared, all those who were watching in Evil Spirit Sect immediately sported changes to their expressions. Shen Dong's eyes also shone with a glint.
Up to now, only Shen Dong alone had been able to make a mountain and river show up on from the Eastern Wastelands Bell during the Berserkers' Disaster. All of the others did not have the right for the bell to react this way, because the pressure as it descended alone was enough to kill them.
"Bao Qiu…" Shen Dong mumbled softly.
The mountain occupied almost half the sky once it appeared. It was green, and as a large amount of life force filled the area, it swiftly descended on the building that protruded from the blood-red screen of light!
Bao Qiu was beside Su Ming, and at that moment, she widened her eyes. She could sense the power of that mountain in the sky. This was something she had never expected to see - a mountain manifesting when she went through the Berserkers' Disaster!
A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He suddenly realized that his previous train of thought had been wrong!
Once the Eastern Wastelands Bell retrieved its will from his body and the mountain manifested in the air, he found that it was not aimed towards Bao Qiu… but towards him!
A faint smile appeared on Su Ming's face. Once he understood this, he looked at the descending illusory mountain once again, and he could tell with just one glance that it did not harbor true killing intent towards him!
It would be difficult for anyone else to discover this, unless they were directly involved in this like Su Ming and had the exact same analysis and judgments as he did. Everyone else, they would only see the Berserkers' Disaster descending on the building.
'You, who do not harbor any killing intent towards me, what is with the mountain that appeared because of me and now it descending towards me… If you're not intending to wipe away my existence, then you must surely… be a trial!'
Su Ming's eyes flashed. And at the same time, the smile on his face grew, for within his eyes was a hint of respect.
Contrary to other people's feelings towards Eastern Wastelands Bell, he had been sad because of what he saw and respected the Sacred Vessel's persistence, due to his familiarity with Han Mountain Bell… Even if it was only a treasure, Su Ming still respected it!
As the power of that one mountain descended, Su Ming lifted his right hand. He swept his thumb across his index finger, and a thin wound immediately appeared, blood flowing out of it to dye Su Ming's right index finger red. When he lifted his head, he could sense that the power of that one mountain was getting closer, and Bao Qiu was shivering even more violently. At that moment, he pressed his bloody index finger on Bao Qiu's fair forehead.
He left a mark of blood at the center of her brows!
It was like a symbol. At the instant he smeared the blood on her forehead, Bao Qiu was left completely stunned, because she realized that when the blood appeared on her forehead, she could no longer feel any sort of pressure on her!
It was as if she had been placed outside the pressure, as if she had been overlooked by Eastern Wastelands Bell, let off by the Berserkers' Disaster!
This scene caused Bao Qiu's heart to race. With shock in her heart, she looked towards Su Ming. She had a dumbfounded expression on her face, and there was a huge storm raging in her heart. The various questions that rose within her caused her breathing to instantly quicken.
It was difficult for her to understand how Su Ming could make the Berserkers' Disaster let her go by just smearing his blood at the center of her brows.
She could also not understand how he did it. Just who was he? What level of cultivation did he have? Where did he come from?
And what sort of connection did he have with that Eastern Wastelands Bell?
She could already guess that there was some sort of huge secret contained within this, though she was uncertain as to what that secret was. Then, as if she remembered something, her eyes went wide and she stared at Su Ming blankly. Disbelief and dazed confusion appeared on her face.
A loud bang reverberated in the world. As all the people from Evil Spirit Sect watched, the mountain that appeared seeped through the double-story building and descended within. Everyone, including Shen Dong, did not think that there might be another person in Bao Qiu's house.
To them, Bao Qiu was the one fighting against the power of the manifested mountain at that moment.
Su Ming swiftly lifted his right hand, as his long hair danced in the air and his robes fluttered. He looked at the illusory shadow of the green mountain with a fixed stare as it came charging towards him as if it wanted to crush his soul, and the moment it came close, he pushed his hand swiftly up!
A muffled bang reverberated in the air once he pushed against the mountain. That bang spread out like a ripple and echoed through the entire Evil Spirit Mountain, but that sound could not be heard with human ears. It could only be sensed with the soul. It was a sound only for the soul.
All those who heard that it would be dazed for different amounts of time, even Shen Dong. That sound echoed in their heads and refused to leave even after a long period of time has passed.
At that moment, Bao Qiu saw something, and it would became something she would never forget. It would even be carved into her soul to become an eternal memory.
She saw Su Ming smiling!
At the instant he touched the illusory mountain with his right hand, another illusory item appeared around him, and that was… another bell!
It manifested around Su Ming and enveloped him completely. She could see a faint figure of a nine-headed beast on the illusory bell. The pictures of mountains, rivers, and deserts might not be carved there, but the bell around Su Ming caused Bao Qiu shock once she saw it. She even had a feeling as if she saw the Eastern Wastelands Bell itself.
The sound that could only be heard with the soul and would cause others to be dazed had spread out after the power from the mountain clashed with this illusory bell!
Bai Qiu bit her bottom lip when she saw no form of killing intent or pressure bursting forth when that power from the mountain crashed into the illusory bell around Su Ming. Instead, that power dissipated as if it had melted, and then it surged into the illusory bell around the teenage boy.
When the power of the mountain completely dissipated and fused into Han Mountain Bell… a mountain that towered in the clouds appeared on the surface of Su Ming's bell besides the Nine-Headed Dragon!
"Thine appearance befits the laws left by mine master, Lie Shan Xiu. When the outsiders occupy our land of the Berserkers… I shalt bring down the Eastern Wastelands Tower… It has ninety-nine layers, and if anyone reaches the top, he shalt be my new master… He shalt also receive Lie Shan Xiu's epiphany towards all worlds, and the person shalt understand Life…
"Thine power is not enough to withstand my power�� I shalt grant thee the seal of one mountain, and with it… thou shalt obtain the right to enter Eastern Wastelands Tower… and activate the Blood Trail Path.
"Thou art the first to obtain the seal of the mountain… When Eastern Wastelands Tower appeareth, twenty six others shalt receive the right to enter after you in succession…"
A cold and ancient voice echoed in Su Ming's head. When it spoke, a focused look swiftly appeared in Su Ming's eyes. After a moment, the voice disappeared, and as the blood-red screen of light changed, the double-story building was instantly concealed within it. The one that was exposed outside was another person from Evil Spirit Sect who was using this Berserkers' Disaster to train.
Su Ming's eyes sparkled. Even though the voice in his head vanished, but the meaning behind its words was enough for him to mull over for some time.
'Eastern Wastelands Tower… By the looks of it, this tower will only be allowed to descend once certain requirements are fulfilled. Besides the outsiders occupying the land of the Berserkers, the other requirement is for me to appear.
'Lie Shan Xiu…'
A pensive look appeared in Su Ming's eyes.
Bao Qiu was staring at Su Ming with a dumbfounded expression at that moment, and respect gradually appeared on her face. It did not matter whether it was born from the master servant connection linking her to him or due to other reasons, all races would always respect the strong. That was an eternal law that would never change in all worlds no matter how they had developed.
"Thank you, master." Bao Qiu got up, then wrapped her fist in her palm and bowed towards Su Ming.