827 - 833

Chapter 827: Ecang as His Clone (2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming's soul remained completely still. The bald crane was also incredibly nervous. It could sense a presence coming out from the golden tree that horrified and disgusted it. The pressure also surpassed that of Divinity Incarceration Rune. In fact, under that presence and pressure, the bald crane's muddled memories became slightly disorderly. It seemed to have some sort of recollection of this golden tree, but it could not remember it clearly.

As the furious roar echoed in the air, followed by that light puzzled gasp, the runic symbol formed by the vast number of venous pathways shone. A huge will instantly swept through the entire area, yet when it reached the spot where the bald crane had transformed to cover Su Ming, it simply swept past them.

And then again and again. It was impossible for Su Ming not to get nervous. This directly tied with the success of his plan to Possess the tree and turn it to his clone. If the bald crane's Transformation Art was discovered, then the sooner that happened, the lower Su Ming's chances of success would be.

Only if he wasn't discovered for a good while and managed to gain the span of eight hundred breaths would he succeed.

The bald crane executed its full strength to control its Transformation Art and conceal Su Ming's presence. It made the area that was covered by its Transformation Art look exactly same as those golden venous pathways no matter how anyone looked at it.

Time trickled by. Several breaths later, a cold harrumph came from that powerful will.

"That damn Sui Chen Zi. Why can't you just stay dead?! How dare the law you left behind lord over me?! Damn it! Damn it all! Or else I would have killed that person who dared to try Possess me a long time ago!

"Sui Chen Zi! You don't deserve sympathy even if you died! You deserved death! If it wasn't because I dared fighting back all those years ago, how could this have happened to me?! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME?!!" a crazed roar shouted out, coming from that will, before it gradually disappeared.

"Haha, I made it! Your Grandpa Crane is good, eh? How dare this small little shrub try to fight against me? Heh heh, I just did a small, insignificant transformation, and it couldn't discover me, haha!" The bald crane sent out a voice with its soul in excitement. As it was feeling smug about itself, it seemed to have forgotten its previous fear and nervousness.

"Little boy Su, don't forget the crystals you promised me. This time, I've used all my strength and didn't hold back even a single bit. I'm seriously tired, you know? Look at my small wings and feet, they've become thinner…" The bald crane quickly used that opportunity to emphasize its hard work and its contribution.

Su Ming remained silent. He did not look at the bald crane's 'small wings and feet'. To the bald crane, whose body was formed by its illusory soul, if it wanted to, it could just turn into a giant with huge wings and feet.

Time was running short. At the instant that great will faded away, Su Ming spread his soul outwards once more and continued occupying the golden tree. One breath passed by, and another…

With each breath that passed, Su Ming's chances of success would increase slightly. To him, this was a scramble, a wrestling match for time.

'Hurry up! Hurry up! Faster!' Su Ming roared in his heart. His soul continued spreading out. From his previous fourteen-hundredths, he reached sixteen, eighteen, twenty…

All the areas that were covered by his soul would be enveloped by the bald crane's Transformation Art at the same time, causing that black color to turn gold, and preventing the tree's will from noticing it.

When Su Ming covered twenty-eight-hundredths of the venous pathways, nearly a hundred breaths had passed since the bald crane had appeared. This sort of speed could already be considered incredibly quick, but Su Ming still felt that he was slow. He saw himself as a thief that had entered a stranger's house to rob it while the owner was still in the house. Only by finishing it swiftly would his chances of success grow higher.

The bald crane looked excited, but in truth, the nervousness in its heart had never reduced the slightest bit. As time passed, that nervousness became even stronger, and it could not help but start urging Su Ming to hurry up.

"Hurry up, hurry up… STOP!" The bald crane immediately sent out a piercing shout with its soul, and the spread of Su Ming's soul instantly stopped.

Almost at the instant he did so, a crazed roar that brought with it a great will that could destroy everything descended on their area again. The roaring voice of that will swept through the place as it searched ceaselessly.

"You damned insect, you're still here! I know you're still here! You despicable, shameless bastard! I don't know what method you used to hide yourself, but I will find you! I will definitely find you!" That great will continued sweeping past the area again and again, and the bald crane was incredibly nervous, not daring to move even a single inch.

In the blink of an eye, ten breaths passed by, and the great will still searched through the area, doing it even more frequently, and it was growing even stronger. At that moment, it was already several times greater than before, and as it swept through the area, booming sounds rang out without stop.

"I refuse to believe that I can't find you, you despicable bastard!" As the tree's will roared, the golden venous pathways suddenly twisted at the same time before drawing close to the heart that was exuding aura of death, located at the center.

The bald crane quickly used its Transformation Art and performed a corresponding act, causing the area that was covered by Su Ming's soul to also twist, behaving in the exact same manner as the other places.

However, at the instant the golden venous pathways retracted and approached the heart that was filled with aura of death, Su Ming suddenly felt a great sense of danger. At the same time, as the tree's will roared, the heart that was filled with the aura of death contracted!

After it did so, it expanded swiftly, as if it was completing a beat.

Thud!

That heart beat once, and a purplish gold fog spread out. Wherever that fog passed, it would tumble about endlessly. When it touched the area that was enveloped by the bald crane's Transformation Art, the bald crane let out a shrill scream.

"It found us!"

"So you're here!" the tree's will roared. At the same time its voice echoed in the air, a heinous destructive will charged towards the area where the two were hiding.

There was no hesitation within Su Ming. Since he was already discovered, he would not hide any longer. Instead, as he spread out the power of his soul, he sent a shout to the bald crane.

"Ten thousand crystals!"

When the bald crane heard Su Ming's voice, its body instantly gathered together to turn into its original appearance. It shuddered from the stimulation brought by the mention of ten thousand crystals. The bald crane lifted its head and howled, its eyes bloodshot. At that moment, Su Ming's words were the only things that echoed in its heart. Ten thousand crystals. To it, this was a temptation greater than anything else in the world. This sort of temptation was enough to make it go mad.

"Ah! Ten thousand crystals! Ten thousand glittering crystals! With the five thousand crystals Su Ming promised me earlier, I'll have fifteen thousand crystals! I'll give it my all! Everything! Everything within me!" At that moment, the bald crane was no longer the bald crane. It was a warrior that did not fear death nor any of the powerful warriors in the entire universe!

With an indomitable presence, fearlessness towards the world, obsession towards crystals, and madness that would destroy all manner of things that wanted stop it from obtaining its crystals, it rushed towards the tree's will which was charging over while flinging all caution to the wind.

The bald crane loved crystals, but it loved harboring grudges even more. And it harbored a grudge towards the four Great True Worlds for shutting down the Divinity Incarceration Rune, which made it so it could no longer extort Su Ming. This made the bald crane so resentful that it practically clenched its teeth in anger while it slept. At this moment, it also hated the tree, not because of standing in its way, but because this tree was stronger than the bald crane itself…

"Twenty thousand! You have to give me twenty thousand crystals. Give me another five thousand and make it twenty thousand crystals, and I… I will fight with my life!" the bald crane roared. In its madness, it asked for additional five thousand crystals.

"I'll give you thirty thousand!" Su Ming sent his voice to the bald crane with his soul. He was using his full might to quickly cover the area where those venous pathways were. Just a little bit more, and he would be able to cover twenty-nine-hundredths of the venous pathways.

The bald crane went mad, and just like a real warrior, it crashed straight into the tree's will.

Bang!

As a loud noise reverberated in the air, the tree's will, which was incredibly terrifying to Su Ming, tumbled backwards when it crashed against its opposition. The body of the bald crane crumbled and fell apart, then gathered together once again a thousand feet away.

As it roared and rose up, an enraged howl came from the tree's will.

"It's you! Damn it, I remember now! You failure! How dare you still show yourself in front of me?! You're not worthy of showing yourself before me!"

As the tree's roars echoed in the air, Su Ming's soul occupied twenty-nine-hundredths, and as he pressed on, he occupied thirty-hundredths!

Nearly a third of that large area of venous pathways had turned black and exuded Su Ming's presence. This level of occupation was something that no one among the thousands of people that tried to Possess the tree had ever been able to achieve.

At the instant Su Ming Possessed this much, a booming sound rang out in his heart. Right then, a gigantic picture rose in his soul.

Within that picture was a big tree in the galaxy. The size of that tree was so great that its end could not be seen with the naked eye. A cultivation planet would be incredibly tiny compared to it. That tree was entirely purple, and the strength of the mighty pressure that spread out from it felt like it would need only a single thought to shatter the whole universe.

However, that colossal tree was not covered head to toe in purple. There was golden light shining from within it, making it seem purplish golden. This was the picture that appeared in Su Ming's soul after he occupied a third of the venous pathways in that tree. During that instant, he also became aware that… this was the real body of the tree that he was trying to Possess!

The tree was incomplete, however; many of its parts had withered. It might look incredibly big, but there was aura of death and a dismal presence spreading out from it. Yet even so, the shock it brought to Su Ming was still incredibly great.

His soul was connected to the bald crane, which was why when he saw that scene, the bald crane also saw it. It was originally rising to a clamor and roaring, but once it saw that tree, it was suddenly stunned, and during that instant, the endless memories that existed like fragments in its mind grouped together for a moment.

"Ecang! You're Ecang! You're not dead?! You weren't killed by Sui Chen Zi! You're still alive!" The bald crane had no idea why it said these words. Confusion filled its face, but its voice was shrill, and there was even a hint of fear in it.

"Remember me now? You failure. Sui Chen Zi, that damn bastard, he still doesn't have the right to kill me! You went against the will of heavens, you failure! You traitor!" the tree's will roared, and as it echoed in the air, the confusion on the bald crane's face became even greater.

Its voice became even more piercing to the ears when it spoke next. "You're incomplete, you were injured badly… Su Ming… Possess it! Make it your clone! If it was complete and uninjured, then there would be no one that could Possess it in all the worlds that exist in the universe! But now… you have a chance to succeed! I'll help you Possess it!" The bald crane's face was still puzzled as it screamed shrilly.

Chapter 828: Ecang as His Clone (3)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The purplish golden tree knew the bald crane, and judging by the two's words, the tree was known as Ecang. Also, based on what it said about the bald crane, the latter was a traitor and a failure.

The bald crane knew the tree's name. It had even mentioned that the tree was incomplete, and that it had been injured gravely. Most importantly… Su Ming had also heard the bald crane mentioning Sui Chen Zi's name while having a dazed expression on its face!

'You weren't killed by Sui Chen Zi... Judging by these words, not only does it now this Ecang, it also… knows Sui Chen Zi. Could it be… that the bald crane is an existence that belongs to the same generation as Sui Chen Zi?

'Why did Sui Chen Zi want to kill the tree? What sort of connection do they have?'

Several questions rose in Su Ming's heart. There was something bizarre about this, and the amount of guesses he had regarding the bald crane's existence rose up once more. He had originally thought that the bald crane, with its mysterious background, had a great connection to the fifth True World, but due to some form of accident, it had lost its memories and became this way, wandering about until it arrived in Yin Death Region. There, it had turned into various things, enjoying acting a menace to others.

When they arrived in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, the experiences the bald crane went through and the hesitation on the Duke of Crimson Flame's face were all seen by Su Ming. But right then, when the purplish gold tree said his piece, Su Ming's assumptions became even more complicated.

It could be that the bald crane did not possess its memories even during the era of the Fifth True World. Su Ming was almost certain now that the event that resulted in its memory loss had not happened in the fifth True World's time, but an even more ancient age.

However, this was not the time for him to ponder over this. Currently, he was in an incredible hurry. As the crane shouted out at him, he spread his soul outwards again and sent it filling up even more venous pathways.

Thirty-one, thirty-three, thirty-five… Su Ming's expansion was incredibly fast. As he was doing that, Ecang roared, and the bald crane let out a piercing screech that grew increasingly more intense as they continued shrieking amid the ceaseless booms echoing within the tree's body.

"Damn you, you failure! Even if I'm incomplete and am badly injured, you are still not my opponent, because you… are also incomplete and similarly injured. By the looks of it, you weren't just gravely wounded once, but thrice, up to the point that your real body broke down and you only have your soul left, and besides being useful in my body, you have nothing worthy of praise in the world outside. You can only be trampled by others, you piece of trash that can only imitate other people's presences, failure, traitor!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the bald crane's and Ecang's wills fought repeatedly, the crane's body disintegrated multiple times. While it might be able to gather together itself each time, the body was growing increasingly duller.

"Ecang, your Grandpa Crane is mighty and powerful, and I have an endless amount of crystals, why should I be afraid of you?!" The bald crane let out a shrill screech, and turned into a windstorm in a single move that charged towards Ecang's will.

Su Ming's soul covered the venous pathways at an even faster rate as the bald crane fought against Ecang. He saw the bird's continuously dimming body, and even though its words were as sharp as ever, Su Ming could sense that it's soul was rapidly scattering away.

Thirty-nine, forty-one, forty-three… Su Ming growled with his soul. The time he had now was gained for the price of the bald crane's soul fading away—all of it was just so that he could successfully Possess the tree, but even so, it was still difficult for him to do so in a short period of time. He was still only at the halfway point toward complete Possession.

Ecang's enraged howls rang nonstop. It had tried multiple times to bypass the bald crane and stop Su Ming's soul from spreading further, but the bald crane would block it recklessly every single time in its bout of madness to buy time. And as it did so, it would also let out hoarse, piercing screeches.

"Damn you, your Grandpa Crane might have forgotten many things, might be unable to bully anyone except the various Runes and seals, and are indeed capable of fighting against you in this place and only this place, but your Grandpa Crane knows that you are a crystal, and as long as I hold you back, I will get thirty thousand crystals!

"For crystals, I'll fight with everything I've got against you! Su Ming! I'm exerting all my strength here! I need stimulation!" As the bald crane roared, Su Ming's soul only needed a little more before it would have covered half of all the venous pathways within the tree.

"A hundred thousand crystals!" Su Ming immediately shouted.

The moment he spoke those words, the windstorm that was the bald crane let out a roar and grew larger by several sizes. The light shining within the eyes in the windstorm were shocking to see.

"A hundred thousand crystals! A hundred thousand!" The bald crane looked as if it had gone mad and held back Ecang's will, which was trying to prevent Su Ming from Possessing it, once more. Ecang's enraged roars rang through the whole tree.

Su Ming's soul continued spreading. At that moment, with a bang, he reached the coverage of forty-seven-hundredths of all the venous pathways. At a glance, half of the large amount of golden venous pathways were black, and they were filled with the dense power of Su Ming's soul.

"Damned thieving crane, my real body is here, and you don't have yours, for how many breaths can you possibly hold me back?" Ecang's will decisively gave up on trying to stop Su Ming and instead used its full power to crush the bald crane, intending to first destroy it before it took care of Su Ming.

"Five hundred thousand crystals!" Su Ming shouted out the moment his soul covered forty-eight-hundredths of the venous pathways.

"One million crystals!" When he shouted this out, the entirety of the bald crane's soul, from the inner parts to the outer parts, were so stimulated by his words that it completely burst forth.

"Get bigger! Bigger! BIGGER!!" The bald crane's eyes turned completely bloodshot. In its madness, the windstorm around it instantly grew endlessly and swept in all directions. As if its soul had been set on fire, it rushed towards Ecang's incoming will.

"You lunatic! You were a lunatic all those years ago, and now, you are still a lunatic! You're burning your own soul for those stupid crystals?! Y-Y-You…"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire world of the golden venous pathways trembled. The tree that was Ecang started swaying intensely, and large cracks even spread out through the cultivation planet. By the looks of it, it was about to be torn to pieces.

Amid the booming sounds, the bald crane let out a shrill scream of pain. As Ecang roared furiously, the windstorm that was the bald crane collapsed, and its body rapidly shrank until it was only the size of a palm. In an almost transparent state, it fell back to the area that was covered by Su Ming's soul.

Once it was enveloped by Su Ming's soul, the bald crane immediately fell unconscious, but before it fainted, it used whatever remained of its strength to send a divine thought to Su Ming.

"Remember… that you owe your Grandpa Crane… one million and thirty thousand crystals…"

"Failure, traitor, thieving crane, you aren't my opponent! I'll swallow you so that I'll recover even faster. Give me time, and I'll even devour the other nine and become the real Ecang!" Ecang's will shook the entire area, but just as it was about to echo in the sky, Su Ming's soul spread out and covered half of the area, truly Possessing half of the venous pathways!

Once he did so, a similar scene as before surfaced once again. At that moment, booming sounds that could shake the world rang in his soul, and a picture manifested before him. However, compared to the scene he saw when he had only occupied a third of the area, this was something at an even greater scale. In fact, Su Ming's soul almost froze at that moment.

He saw...

Chapter 829: Ecang as His Clone (4)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When Su Ming's soul occupied half of the golden venous pathways and he saw the scene that caused his heart to tremble, the latter half of the divine thought that the bald crane had sent to him with all its remaining strength before it fainted reached his heart.

"... You have to remember to give me my crystals… because I might have fainted, but I held back that thrice cursed Ecang… for some time. I don't know how long I'll be able to confuse it, so you'll have to be fast…"

As the bald crane's divine thought completely disappeared, Ecang's furious roars echoed in the air, and its divine thought swept over the place, but it could not leave a set area.

At the same time, Su Ming saw the picture in his soul. There, he saw a galaxy.

Within that galaxy was a golden sea. And within that sea was a golden cultivation planet. While within that cultivation planet was a big, golden tree…

There was nothing special about it, and it was far from being able to make even Su Ming's soul freeze… but that was because it was merely the first thing he saw.

Su Ming could not find anything that he could use to compare to the world he saw at the moment. He only felt that everything he saw right then made him remember the spider webs he saw when he was still a child in Dark Mountain.

Thin threads connected together to form small little squares that looked like they belonged on a spider's net. That was what Su Ming found himself comparing this world to in his mind.

Beyond the galaxy of the golden sea, golden planet, and the big golden tree was another galaxy that looked the exactly as the one with the tree. On its edge, there were many other galaxies that were identical as well, and there were even more of them farther away. Their numbers could not be counted, for there was no end to them. Once a person saw such a sight, they would be unable to help themselves but feel shocked… and a hint of despair would even raise within their hearts.

One hundred thousand galaxies. One hundred thousand golden seas. One hundred thousand golden planets. One hundred thousand… golden trees!

This scene caused Su Ming's heart to roar. In fact, he even saw ninety-seven cultivators existing in ninety seven of those one hundred thousand galaxies. Some of those cultivators were in the golden seas, while some of them were close to the golden planets. There were also those that were struggling in the highest layer of wind on the planet.

Su Ming had seen some of those people before. They were… most of the one hundred and twenty-four people who had entered the stone monument's test in an attempt to make their stone monuments reach one million feet.

As for the dozens of people who were missing, it was clear that they had already failed.

"I've used everything that I have, and the bald crane even fell unconscious due to heavy injuries. Only like this did I manage to Possess half of the tree… but… that half that I thought was of the whole was just a half of one out of the one hundred thousand Ecang trees among the one hundred thousand cultivation planets and one hundred thousand galaxies.

"How… can I possibly… Possess this sort of living being..?" Su Ming mumbled. As he was shocked by all that he saw, despair rose within him.

It could even be said that the possibility of being Possessed simply did not exist for this sort of living being, because there was no person who could Possess all one hundred thousand of its bodies. If there was someone who truly had the power to do such a thing, then… there would be absolutely no need for that person to Possess anything, because if they were capable of doing such a thing, then they were certainly one of the people who stood at the highest pinnacle of the entire universe.

'Am I truly incapable of succeeding?

'Am I truly going to fail just like this…

'Are all my previous efforts, near a thousand years of struggle, hundreds of years of waiting, going to be laid to waste and become a mere joke?!

'Is the bald crane's grave injuries to buy me some time would all be just so that it would present me with a fate that would make us despair?

'Am I supposed to give up just like this and only be able to leave this place after tens of thousands of years, becoming just like the others, an ordinary tool in the grand scheme of things? Do I have to remain an ant for the rest of my life, remaining a person whose fate is controlled by others? Can I only watch the people I want to protect have their lives and deaths controlled by the strong again and again?!'

Violent waves surged in Su Ming's soul. Once he saw those one hundred thousand planets, he had experienced a despairing strike. It made him suddenly realize that the success he thought was already in his hand after having occupied half of those venous pathways was so insignificant it was practically a joke. For a moment, he was simply unable to accept this fact.

"I absolutely won't give up, neither will I be willing to admit defeat. I… am Su Ming. I am an Abyss Builder. I've lived a forlorn and bitter life. I couldn't control my own fate, and even my physical body was sealed by the Immortals. Right now, I only exist as a soul!

"Heavens! Fate! Just how long are you going to continue toying with me?!" A crazed wave left Su Ming's soul, along with a roar that shook the sky and earth. That roar contained Su Ming's resistance against fate, bringing with it his first ever, complete and absolute resolution to fight fate.

At the instant that powerful wave left Su Ming's soul, the one hundred thousand galaxies, one hundred thousand golden seas, and one hundred thousand planets started trembling together, as if they were shaken by the madness of his soul.

Booming sounds rang without stop, ceaselessly shaking the one hundred thousand galaxies, so the ninety-seven people who were going through the test sported sudden and drastic changes in their expressions. Practically all of them swiftly looked around themselves, confused because they did not know what was going on. The booms also caused the golden seas to roar and tumble and the galaxies to start shaking, as if there was an earthquake around that was so great it could shake mountains and seas.

"You let me grow up in Dark Mountain, then you took it away from me, telling me that it was all just a dream!" Su Ming laughed long and hard. Within his laughter was a mockery that was aimed at himself as well as a roar that was aimed at both heavens and fate.

The one hundred thousand galaxies started trembling even harder. In fact, there were some galaxies that even started cracking. Black smoke was surging into the sky from the half of the venous pathways Su Ming had occupied. The smoke tumbled about viciously and spread outwards with a bang.

"You let me come to the ninth summit! You gave me warmth! But in the end, you took all of it away with a cold laugh! You turned everything into a mere illusion! You manipulated my fate as if I was some puppet!"

Su Ming's laughter was forlorn. The one hundred thousand galaxies roared with him, and the ninety-seven people who were being tested turned stark pale. They might not know what was going on, but they could sense that there was a crazed will within the galaxies in which they were located.

That will contained a resistance against fate, an opposition towards the heavens, and it was spreading out violently towards them at that moment.

"You let me become the God of Berserkers, but after I took that title, you snatched everything from me! You made me watch Yu Xuan close her eyes, made me watch Bai Su disappear, made me watch my people die! You made me leave the land of Berserkers and come to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence…

"You let me possess great power, but you pushed me to the foreign land and trapped me here for a thousand years!" As black smoke tumbled about from the half of the venous pathways Su Ming had occupied, and those black venous pathways immediately started twisting before they gradually grouped together to form a face. That face belonged to Su Ming.

His expression was ferocious and his laughter was incredibly bitter as he stood up against fate.

"You let me obtain the possibility to gain a great serendipity in the foreign land and even allowed me to occupy half of these venous pathways, but in the end, you tell me that… this is just half of one of the one hundred thousand trees!

"Fate! Heavens! How long will you continue toying with me?! In your eyes, am I truly unable to fight against you and destroy you?!"

Loud booms shot up from the one hundred thousand galaxies at the same time. All of them trembled viciously, and cracks began spreading through them. Wisps of black smoke flowed out from those cracks, and as it continued spreading, it grew in volume, to eventually gather together into one hundred thousand faces in the one hundred thousand galaxies.

All one hundred thousand of them were Su Ming's faces!

This was not something that was naturally formed due to Su Ming's shouts. Neither had his shouts made the law in the universe open up a gap for him. What allowed him to do so was most certainly not his possession of some mysterious ability that would allow him to make the entire area around him bow its head and worship him with his anger alone.

The reason for it was something he did not know - that half of the venous pathways he had occupied on one tree would be equivalent to him occupying half of all the venous pathways within all the trees.

There might be one hundred thousand trees, but in truth… there was only one tree!

If he obtained one, he would obtain all of them!

However, if Su Ming had given up due to his despair just now, then he would have failed. It was precisely because of his determination and his resolve to push on that he had the chance to see the tree's real self, as well as obtain the chance… to Possess it again!

Illusions, reality; apparitions, corporeality. Sometimes, if a person persisted and broke through, they could realize that illusions and reality, apparitions and corporeality were divided by a fine line!

The logic was simple. It might seem easy to figure it out, but just how many were truly able to do this? If there was a canyon that was one hundred thousand feet deep, just how many people would dare to take that one step forward!

It was just like a person climbing a mountain. If he thought he had climbed half of it, he would use his full strength if there was only half left. But if he thought there was only half left and lifted his head to suddenly see that the half that he had climbed was completely insignificant and there was actually still a lofty hill above that had no end, his strength would wane due to his despair. He would not be able to hold on to the walls on the mountain, and he would fall to his death. It was the same concept. Just how many people would be able to persist and continue climbing up such a mountain?!

This was the true reason as to why Su Ming could make the one hundred thousand faces of black smoke appear in those one hundred thousand galaxies!

"For as long as I remember myself, I have never given up. I have always moved forward, and I have always had a determined heart. Even if that determination turned into obsession, and even if that obsession caused me to suffer and descend into madness, I have never given up on any single possibility.

"Do you know why I did all of this..? Do you know what made me do all of it?!

"Because when I was young, I searched for my elder, yet when I grew up, I learned that all of my memories were just a dream. Because after I became the God of Berserkers, I learned that everything was just someone else's plan, all the things I had accumulated in my heart begun pressing down against me until I couldn't breathe. I even thought about not struggling anymore...

"But I couldn't accept it. I didn't want to be a puppet, I didn't want to be manipulated by fate. I knew back then as I know now that unless you can truly crush me, then someday, I will stand up. I will crush fate under my feet. I will make all my enemies spill blood and dye the world red with it. I will make them despair!"

The one hundred thousand wisps of black smoke that formed Su Ming's faces within those one hundred thousand galaxies let out a sharp and loud cry towards fate at the same time at that instant. As it echoed in the air, besides the face that had surfaced on the venous pathways that Su Ming had occupied, all the other faces rushed towards the golden sea, towards the golden cultivation planets, and towards the golden trees!

Chapter 830: Ecang as His Clone (5)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The moment the one hundred thousand galaxies roared, the cultivators that were receiving their tests in ninety-seven different galaxies found that they could not control their bodies. They were all forced out of their galaxies, and when they reappeared, they had already been moved to the place where the one hundred thousand stone monuments were.

As their bodies appeared at the same time, their faces filled with shock as well as disbelief, everyone else swiftly looked over at them.

Ninety-seven people had failed at the same time and returned simultaneously, while their stone monuments shone and shrank together… This was something that had never happened before in this land over countless years!

"What happened? Why… did these people appear instantly at the same time?!"

"Ninety-seven stone monuments turned from nearly one million feet to several tens of thousands of feet at the same time. What-what is going on?!"

As the buzz of discussions from the people echoed in the air, the ninety-seven people who were forced out of their tests looked at each other in silence, their faces pale. They saw the shock and astonishment within each other's eyes.

"Something's wrong! There's still one stone monument that is nearly one million feet! That person… He hasn't yet appeared!"

"Hmm?" As that voice rang in the air, all the people's gazes, including those of the ninety-seven returnees, instantly gathered on Su Ming's stone monument.

The buzz of discussion instantly died down. The two words that were carved on that stone monument were reflected in each and every person's eyes.

Mo Su.

…..

Su Ming's face had occupied half of the area within the golden venous pathways at that moment, and his voice, which was laden with his determination, echoed in all directions.

"Most important of all… I would have let it slide if you had just toyed with me, but you tried to affect those around me! I will fight against you… because I want to protect my family and all those who have been kind to me. I want to protect them, and this… is the pillar that's supporting me in my life! It's the only resolution that has allowed me to keep moving forward!

"I will protect them!

"This is the only reason that I still have the courage to continue living! I will become strong, I will become the strongest in the universe, because I don't want to see the people who had been kind to me cry. I don't want to see them die. I want to protect everyone. They… are the most precious things to me. They are my life."

An incredibly powerful wave left Su Ming's soul. This was his roar, his cry. This was the strongest shout he had mustered from the depths of his heart against fate.

Bang!

Besides Su Ming's face around him, all the others formed by black smoke within the other one hundred thousand galaxies shot through all the obstructions and appeared near the golden trees. Without stopping, they instantly imprinted themselves on the trees and shot through the tree trunks before rushing towards the golden venous pathways within every single tree.

Within the blink of an eye, loud bangs that could overturn the world shot out from those one hundred thousand Ecang trees and one hundred thousand golden venous pathways.

"I burned my life for Dark Mountain and the elder in the past! I could swallow all those herbs to make myself stronger without care for anything [1] and break that door because I cared about my tribe! I wanted to protect my tribe!"

Su Ming's voice reverberated in the air. The venous pathways within the one hundred thousand trees were devoured and occupied at the same time by the black faces formed by Su Ming.

"I lived a forlorn life, but I walked through all the bumpy roads to find my elder. I wanted to protect him, wanted to make the old man smile happily, let him see that his young La Su had grown up and could stand by his side to protect him."

The one hundred thousand faces roared and occupied the venous pathways instantly, eventually making half of all the one hundred thousand of those trees and one hundred thousand sets of venous pathways to belong to Su Ming!

"I became the God of Berserkers and shouldered the Berserkers' fate. Even if I'm not a Berserker, but my senior brothers are, my Master is, my friends are. For them, I could give up on my struggle, as long as… they were happy. I could become the God of Berserkers and help the Berserkers gain new glory."

Once half of each of the one hundred thousand sets of venous pathways in the one hundred thousand trees were under Su Ming's control, he roared, and those faces started spreading at the same time throughout all the venous pathways within those one hundred thousand trees!

The spread this time was even faster. Ecang's will was madly struggling, wanting to break free of the lock left behind by the bald crane before it fainted, but this was a lock that was placed by the bald crane burning its soul. The might of that lock was something that even Ecang needed to spend some time on if he wanted to break free.

"I came to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence because I wanted to protect the ninth summit. I didn't want them to cry. I didn't want my senior brothers to die. For that, I could sacrifice myself. I could live without love and pain. I could come to this foreign place. As long as they were alive, I would be happy.

"This is the resolve in my heart. It is my obsession. For this obsession, even if I will eventually make seas of blood flood the sky, even if I will stain my hands with blood, why should I care?!

"I WILL NOT GIVE UP!"

Su Ming's voice reverberated in the air. The occupation of the venous pathways from those one hundred thousand trees had moved from a fifty- to fifty-six-hundredths!

It might have seemed to have only increased by a six, but this was definitely not that simple a calculation, because that was not just merely fifty-six-hundredths of a single tree, but fifty-six-hundredths of one hundred thousand trees!

Boom!

The lock left behind by the bald crane before it fainted was broken by Ecang. As its will spread out from within, its furious roars shook the sky and earth within the world of those venous pathways.

"Even if Sui Chen Zi's law is protecting you, you won't be able to Possess me! Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!!"

Ecang's anger burned the skies. Over the numerous years, there had been plenty of people who had wanted to Possess it, but none of them had been able to occupy more than half of its body. In fact, this wasn't even a simple occupation of half its body, but an occupation of half of all of its bodies.

This brought it a great sense of danger. If it was not because it would definitely need to pay a price that even it would not be able to bear if it went against Sui Chen Zi's law, then it would have already killed Su Ming, instead of just chasing him away from its body.

"Get lost! Get lost! GET LOST!!"

Ecang's will boomed and crashed into Su Ming's faces, which were formed from the venous pathways after he had occupied them. In fact, Ecang was not just crashing its will into one single place, either. Instead, its will erupted at the same time from all the one hundred thousand trees, the one hundred thousand of its bodies at the same time.

Booms rang out. Without the bald crane fighting against the will, Su Ming bore the full brunt of its attack. When Ecang shouted its first words for Su Ming to go away, his soul trembled. It was difficult for him to even put up a resistance against Ecang's strength. At the same time it bore down on him, its power turned into one that reversed time and swept up Su Ming's soul, making the fifty-six-hundredths occupied of the venous pathways to regress to only fifty-three-hundredths!

Su Ming's faces turned ferocious. He erupted at that instant, and without any hesitation, he chose to burn his soul!

It was just as he said previously: unless fate crushed him, then he would definitely crush fate under his feet. It was the same in this place. Unless Ecang could destroy him, then Su Ming would definitely complete the Possession. Even if he died, he would still succeed!

As his soul burned, Su Ming began fighting against Ecang's will.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He fought against it several times, but his occupied territory still shrank down, from fifty-three-hundredths to a forty-five-hundredths. However, once it fell back to this much, Su Ming's burning of his soul reached its peak. He no longer moved back, and as he continued crashing against Ecang's will, his occupied territory moved from forty-five-hundredths back to forty-six, then forty-seven. When he reached a forty-eight-hundredths, he could no longer continue, but Ecang could also not make him move back anymore.

Intense pain shot through Su Ming's soul. It was rapidly becoming incomplete, fading away as it burned. However, as it burned, Su Ming's madness was shown fully.

"Foolish cultivator, did you think that you could Possess me if you burned your soul? I can even choose to no longer continue crushing you. As long as I stop your Possession from spreading, before long, you will die due to the burning of your soul.

"You foolish life form, you're definitely going to lose! You're definitely going to die!" As Ecang's voice echoed in the air, most of Su Ming's soul had already burned away, but the faces that were formed from the venous pathways he had occupied smiled in a bizarre fashion.

That smile on those one hundred thousand faces at the same time momentarily stunned Ecang.

Right at that moment, Su Ming's voice came from within those one hundred thousand galaxies and one hundred thousand Ecang's tree.

"Ancient existences within Yin Death Region. I know that you can hear my voice, and every single one of the actions I took after I came to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence were under your watch. You're also seeing what I'm currently doing.

"Help me fight against Ecang's will. If I succeed, I will obtain this serendipity, and I will help you find your king! If you don't take action, then my soul will simply die, and it'll be impossible for you to find another person like me who will help you find your king!"

As Su Ming's voice echoed in the air, an enraged roar came from the depths of Yin Death Vortex, located in True Morning Dao World, which was far away from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

Su Ming's soul was still burning, but only three breaths passed before incredibly ancient presences suddenly appeared in his soul. There was not just one, but four of them.

At the instant those presences appeared, they immediately spread out from within his soul and formed an illusory black mask. It was naturally the seal that had been imprinted on Su Ming.

At the moment the four presences spread out, four suns appeared beside him. Those suns were green, red, blue, and white respectively. An age-old presence spread out from them, and they spun rapidly around the mask before they charging towards Ecang's will with a loud bang.

"Damn it, just what exactly do you have around you?! You had that traitorous and thieving crane, and you even have the protection of the divine thoughts from four people who are half a step away from beings Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death!" After being momentarily stunned, Ecang let out a furious roar and swept past the area with its will.

"Abyss Builder, remember… to find our king for us. We are the fifth True World's Yin Maelstrom people, Boundless Gangue people, and Just Progenies [3]!

"If you don't fulfill your promise, we will definitely destroy all the Berserkers!" There was anger within the four chilling divine thoughts, and their voices surrounded the mask before going outwards.

"Quit your yapping and attack!"

Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. They had no choice. Forcing them to attack was part of his plan to Possess Ecang. Su Ming had been thinking for four hundred something years, and he had already calculated all possible situations. Even if these people refused, he still had a few methods to force them to attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

There was once again someone there to help Su Ming fight against Ecang. As Su Ming's soul burned, it spread out at an indescribable speed. He continued occupying the venous pathways ceaselessly within the one hundred thousand galaxies and one hundred thousand trees, moving upwards from the forty-eight-hundredths.

Forty-nine, fifty-one, fifty-three, fifty-five… until he reached sixty-hundredths!

And it continued. Sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-five, sixty-seven...

Booms echoed in the air. The mask that symbolized the four great divine thoughts from Yin Death Region shattered to pieces. The four suns around it were also reduced into numerous glittering flickers of light during that spread out.

As the mask shattered and the four divine thoughts disappeared, the ancient wills from Yin Death Region also completely lost their control over Su Ming!

This meant that he had taken a huge step forward in his path towards resisting fate. He had successfully shaken off the limitations placed on him by Yin Death Region, and successfully… supplanted those controlling him!

From then on, he would no longer be sealed by Yin Death Region. He had regained his complete self… and the existences within Yin Death Region would not dare to touch the Berserkers, because they needed him to find their king!

"Damn you, you accursed cultivator, I'd like to see what else you have besides that traitorous, thieving crane and the protection from the four divine thoughts. Even if you occupied more areas, it's still useless. Your soul is about to be completely burned. You're about to die! What else can you do?!" Ecang roared furiously. Once it crushed the mask and the four divine thoughts, it swept towards Su Ming once again.

At the instant it closed in on him with loud booming sounds, Su Ming, who had occupied a sixty-nine-hundredths of all the venous pathways within the one hundred thousand trees, had all the faces he formed smile in that bizarre fashion once again.

About seven-tenths of Su Ming's soul had been burnt. As he smiled, he mumbled with madness in his eyes, "Possessing you will be the greatest serendipity in my life.

"But Possessing you isn't the most important thing in my life!" The madness in Su Ming's eyes grew even stronger, as if it had been lit up in flames.

"Possessing you is just a process. During this process, I will borrow your strength to make sure that I break free from other people's control and become who I really am. The existences within Yin Death Region were just one of those who wanted to rule me, there's still… Di Tian!

"Di Tian, I once thought that I had completely broken free of your control and walked out of your plans, but now… I saw everyone's faces on Ecang's numerous branches… but I didn't see yours!

"During that moment, I knew that you are still controlling me. Your plan hasn't failed at all! In fact, everything about me is still a part of your plan!

"You are absent from all the faces that manifested on Ecang's tree, just like how I am absent from it! I can't see myself, and neither can I see you! Then doesn't it mean that you used some method to make it so that you are me and I am you?! That you have let our souls fuse together in some sense?!

"I don't know what your plan is, but over the years, from all the clues I've gathered, I can vaguely guess… that you want my life! It's not my life in the sense that you want my vitality, but you want my life as an Abyss Builder!

"If that's the case, then either you die with me… or you will get out of my soul!" This was the insane thought that had been born in Su Ming's mind after his first failure hundreds of years ago.

Possession was nothing. It was merely a serendipity. Breaking free of fate's control was the most important thing for Su Ming. Perhaps he was wrong. He was not certain whether Di Tian had fused with his soul, however… if he could have Hong Luo and those three powerful warriors in Solar Kalpa Realm in his soul, then why would it not be possible… for Di Tian to exist there as well?!

The less understanding he had towards this control, the harder it would be for him to break free from it. Only… by using his life as a betting chip and placing a huge bet that no normal person would take would he be able to break free of his predicament.

"Di Tian, are you leaving or not?!" Su Ming roared, and the one hundred thousand faces within the one hundred thousand trees in the one hundred thousand galaxies roared at the same time.

Translator's Note:

1. This is about when the elder locked Su Ming in the house in Wind Stream Tribe and went back without him for Dark Mountain Tribe's migration.

2. Master of Fate, Lives, and Death: Name of the Realm for those who can control fate, lives, and death. First mentioned by the Candle Dragon in 'For what reason do all manner of living practice cultivation? For what reason do we strive to become strong?'

3. It's not mentioned, but I do believe that the fourth one is Heavenly Phantoms. Remember that the Duke of Crimson Flame mentioned that Su Ming had a seal on him that he didn't want to break because it was doing him good and Su Ming said that he did have a seal placed on him? I thought that it was a reference towards the seal on the mask at that time.

Chapter 831: Ecang as His Clone (6)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the galaxy that belonged to the Immortals in one of the four Great True Worlds, True Morning Dao World, far from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence was an incredibly strange celestial body. It was formed of one hundred and eight cultivation planets. From the distance, they looked like a leaf that was filled with veins. It floated in the galaxy with brilliant light shining a hundred thousand feet from it. The great and mighty pressure that was formed when those one hundred and eight cultivation planets gathered together intimidated all those around them. This was an area that was incredibly famous within the galaxy that belonged to Immortals.

Within there, there was Great Leaf Immortal Sect's first sect.

An endless amount of people weaved in and out of the planets within that celestial body. The people that were moving about the place were all disciples of Great Leaf Disciple Sect that were either going out or returning. At first glance, there were several hundreds of thousands of them moving about.

This might seem like a huge number, but compared to the gigantic one hundred and eight cultivation planets, these hundreds of thousands of people were incredibly tiny and insignificant. Based on the sect's scale, the number of disciples within Great Leaf Immortal Sect would definitely be extremely great.

At the instant all one hundred thousand of Su Ming's faces shouted at the same time within the Western Ring Nebula's foreign land in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, there was a change in a cultivation planet within the deepest recesses of the celestial body that looked like a leaf.

That place was filled with green grass. There was a light gust of wind that swept through the land in that world. The sky was blue, and there were a few white clouds moving about gently in the sky, filling this place with an air of tranquility.

There was a lake nearby, and a middle-aged man sat by its side. He was dressed in a sackcloth and held a fishing pole in his hands. He looked as if he was taking a cat nap. There was a peaceful expression on his face, along with a faint smile.

Yet by his side were countless wild wolves lying in ambush among the grass. Red light was shining in the wolves' eyes as they stared at the middle-aged man while not moving a single inch.

Yet during that moment, a faint crease suddenly appeared between the middle-aged man's brows. This action immediately made that peaceful expression on his face disappear. He slowly opened his eyes, which were long and narrow. This pair of eyes caused the man to seem like he possessed a strange charm, but at that moment, a focused glint tainted with a dark look gradually appeared within those eyes.

"I… do not like wayward children," the middle-aged man mumbled to himself. He still held on to the fishing pole with his right hand while slowly closing his eyes, as if nothing had happened.

Within Western Ring Nebula's foreign land in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, Su Ming's low roars were echoing in the air. His soul was rapidly burning away. The burnt area of his soul rapidly turned from a seven-tenths to eight-tenths as he furiously fought against Ecang's will.

The roars and booms that came from Ecang's will prevented Su Ming from spreading his soul out any further. To Ecang, Su Ming should already be near the end of his life. Just a little more, and his burning soul would completely scatter away. At that moment, Ecang would not even need to do anything. His opponent would just disappear into the wind on his own.

There was a determined expression on the one hundred thousand faces of Su Ming at that moment. He did not show any intention of changing his mind. Even if most of his soul had already been burnt, as long as Di Tian did not get out of his body, he would not give up. This was a gamble with his life on the lien, as well as a competition of patience, one where he and Di Tian would both have to make a choice.

'Kites have strings. That's why even if they flow above the nine heavens, they will still be controlled by someone and won't have a free will.

'If I can't break off that string throughout my entire life and fly freely in the sky, then what is the difference between me living and dying..? Only when I break this string will I be able to taste freedom!'

A determined light shone within all the eyes of the one hundred thousand faces that belonged to Su Ming. As his soul burned, another portion of it crumbled away.

At that moment, the middle-aged man in a sackcloth near the lake on the plain of grass within Great Leaf Immortal Sect in the galaxy that belonged to the Immortals in Morning Dao World opened his eyes once again. This time, besides a grim look, there was also seriousness in his expression.

However, the hand which held the fishing pole was still very stable. Ripples suddenly appeared on the water in the lake before him. Once the middle-aged man lifted his right hand, a golden fish was yanked out from the water with its mouth around the fishing hook.

As water droplets scattered everywhere, one of the wild wolves from the grass swiftly leaped up and charged towards that golden fish with its mouth wide open, about to swallow it whole.

"I do not like those who take the initiative."

The middle-aged man's eyes became even more grim. He did not seem to have done anything, but at the instant he said those words, the wild wolf that had leaped up suddenly shuddered and withered away. Its teeth fell off and its fur shriveled. Its body instantly turned into dust, and even the teeth and fur that had fallen off turned into ashes before reaching the lake, as if a thousand years had passed for the body of the wolf in an instant.

"The Abyss Builders' inborn ability… What a despicable race, but also… a race that makes others envious."

The middle-aged man's face turned even darker. He slowly stood up and let go of the fishing pole. With a turn, he stepped into the air.

His body vanished instantly. When he reappeared, he had already moved an unknown amount of distance and reached… Great Leaf Immortal Sect's first sect.

When he appeared here, he was no longer dressed in a sackcloth, but had adorned a golden long robe and had a golden crown on his head. There was also a dignified expression on his face. Wherever he went, all the cultivators that saw him would immediately bow down and worship him.

He continued onward until he stood at the center of the shattered continents, right on top of the tallest altar in that place, beside the corpse that had been sealed there for numerous years.

He looked at the young man with the pale face, frail body, and shut eyes before him. The middle-aged man remained silent, but suddenly, Su Ming's real body, which was the corpse that was held here, suddenly showed signs of withering away. Wrinkles swiftly appeared on its skin, and its hair gradually lost its luster. Those were the signs that its soul was about to die. Once the soul died, the corpse would wither away, and the soul would also scatter away.

Due to this scene, the expression of the middle-aged man, Di Tian, changed. He had not believed in what he sensed previously, but now that the truth was placed before him, he became certain that Su Ming was facing a danger that he could not hope to stand against. He was burning his soul at that moment, and nine-tenths of it were already gone.

"Either you have truly run into a life and death situation… or you have discovered a clue. If it's the former, I'll let it slide, but if it's the latter…"

Di Tian let out a cold harrumph. He was still frowning. There was a unique form of fusion between his and Su Ming's souls. If Su Ming died, then he would also be injured badly. In fact, his level of cultivation would no longer increase even a single bit for the rest of his life. In truth, his plan had been a gamble all along.

"I only need another three hundred years to succeed… Three hundred years…"

Di Tian fell silent and stared at Su Ming's physical body without saying a single word. When a large amount of black patches appeared on the skin and a rotting stench also spread out while his hair fell off, for the first time, Di Tian's heart was shaken.

"Ninety-five-hundredths…

"Ninety-five-hundredths. I've already burned more than ninety-five-hundredths of my soul, but Di Tian still hasn't appeared. Could I… be wrong..?" Su Ming had already reached his limit in terms of burning his soul in Western Ring Nebula's foreign land, and Ecang's laughter echoed in the air. The one hundred thousand faces that belonged to Su Ming shook at that instant.

If he continued, he would truly die. If he gave up, he would still have some life left, but... he was already at this point of his plan. After a short period of silence, a resolute and ruthless expression appeared on his face.

"If I'm wrong, then I will be freed from all this from now on! This is my choice, I will accept it!"

Without any hesitation, the flames burning Su Ming's soul rose once again and started devouring the last five-hundredths of his soul. If he split that remaining portion into five parts, then he only had four left, and it was still becoming less.

As Su Ming's soul continued to burn, he heard a faint voice in his heart, though he did not know whether it was just a figment of his imagination.

"This world… shall be built for Abyss…" That voice said seven words, and they were the same ones Su Ming had heard when he was still in Yin Death Region.

This time, even Ecang's will was shaken. It had seen lunatics before, but it had never seen someone as insane as Su Ming. He had already arrived at this point, but he was still continuing. He was using his life to gamble!

Di Tian, who was in the galaxy that belonged to the Immortals, also trembled. The relaxed look on his face disappeared at that moment. A ferocious look appeared in his eyes, which were now covered in blood capillaries. He stared intently at Su Ming's physical body, watching as it rapidly decayed, and his heart shook even more violently.

When there was only three parts of the original five of Su Ming's soul that were not burnt, Di Tian trembled lightly. This was an invisible fight, a battle of Arts that could not be seen. It was a fight where both parties competed to see just who was more ruthless and who was the first to fall back.

Di Tian's expression twisted. He was unwilling to accept that his plan would truly fail just like this, but he had no way of knowing whether Su Ming was truly facing a life and death danger at this moment or whether all of this was just him fighting back. With an internal struggle, Di Tian watched the decay on Su Ming's physical body become even worse. In fact, he no longer had the shape of a human when there were only two parts left of his soul.

That flow of time seemed to have been stretched out in an invisible manner. This was torture and a test to Su Ming, and it was the same for Di Tian. When there was only one part left of Su Ming's soul, Di Tian lifted his head and let out a furious roar towards the sky.

There was anger within that roar, along with a resignation that he had to terminate his own plan, as well as an enmity towards time. As Di Tian roared, he lifted his right hand and fiercely struck the center of his brows.

At the instant he did so, a golden light erupted from within Su Ming's soul, which was at the brink of unconsciousness. That ray of light swiftly flew out from within his soul. A furious roar came from within Su Ming's soul and echoed faintly in the air as that golden light disappeared.

Su Ming was familiar with that roar. It was Di Tian's voice. In that invisible battle of Arts, Su Ming had won!

He laughed long and hard. A resistance against fate that had lasted for countless years was contained within that laughter, along with Su Ming's determination and resolution. He won in that battle of Arts and gained his freedom. If he could get through Ecang's disaster, then from that time on, he would be free from everyone's control over him. He would have endless possibilities ahead of him. This would be him leaving an extraordinary situation to get into another marvelous situation.

However, the price for breaking free of Di Tian's control was incredibly devastating. There was only a wisp left of Su Ming's soul, and that wisp was still burning. At that moment, there were two paths before Su Ming.

He could give up all form of resistance. With Sui Chen Zi's law in existence, he might have a chance of merging his soul together once more under the reversal of time and return to his physical body.

However, there were a lot of unknowns in this. There was even a possibility… that if he formed his soul once more under the reversal of time, all the souls that once existed within his own would also return.

No one could say how this would end.

The was another path as well, and in that one, Su Ming was certain that the situation of the seals forming once again in his soul would not happen. This path… was one where he continued on!

A glint appeared in all of the eyes within the one hundred thousand face that belonged to Su Ming. The situation had not derailed to the point where it was no longer part of his plan. During the four hundred years of analysis, he had discovered several ways that might be dead ends but could also be points that led to new life.

At that moment, the second path was one such way. Without any hesitation, Su Ming chose to walk it. At the instant his soul was completely burnt, the wave of impact that erupted from him was incredibly powerful. Ecang's will laughed coldly and did not try to stop it. He knew that this was Su Ming's final bout of madness. After that, he would surely die.

'I was dead to begin with. My soul is dead and cannot touch the sun… Then what will happen if a person whose soul is dead dies again..?'

As the wave of impact from the burning of Su Ming's soul spread out, his soul covered eighty-hundredths in one bout from the previous sixty-seven. A boom shot up in Su Ming's mind, and a new picture appeared in his head.

He saw… Western Ring Nebula's foreign land, right beyond the one hundred thousand golden seas and one hundred thousand galaxies!

It was as if Su Ming's Atman was expanded endlessly at that instant and covered the entire foreign land. It even continued spreading out to cover Western Ring Nebula. However, the Western Ring Nebula before Su Ming's eyes was vastly different from his memories.

This place was filled with tranquility and life. The Essence of the Worlds within the countless cultivation planets was abundant and sufficient. There were… no cultivators on the planets, only ferocious beasts. It was as if this was a foreign galaxy that no cultivator had yet discovered.

Su Ming was momentarily stunned. When he instinctively pulled back his Atman and it returned to his body, he discovered that the foreign land had disappeared.

More accurately speaking, he had become the foreign land.

Su Ming lowered his head. When he looked at himself, he saw that he was dressed in white. He had become a stranger.

He was an old man with white hair, an unfamiliar existence whose eyes were filled with wisdom and an ancient air.

"With one thought, I can destroy the heavens…" The universe instantly turned dark. The galaxy disappeared in an instant, as if everything had been destroyed.

This was not Su Ming's voice, but he could sense that he was the one saying the words. During that instant, he suddenly understood. Once he occupied eight-tenths of Ecang's venous pathways, he saw Ecang's memories, and once he fused with them, he saw… Sui Chen Zi.

"With one thought, I can give life to the universe."

Su Ming's heart trembled. He saw a ray of light being born within that endless darkness after the galaxy had turned into a black, empty void. That light spread out and covered everything that Su Ming saw, chasing away all darkness. Cultivation planets were born, and lives appeared on them.

"With one thought, I can make all lives perish…" As the third sentence was spoken, all lives were reduced to ashes, as if flames had swept past them. It was as if several millions of years had flowed past the universe.

"With one thought, I can give life to all manner of being." When that ancient voice spoke again, Su Ming's heart shuddered. He seemed to have come to a vague understanding of something.

"Those who can see my four Great Arts of Divine Essence have either made their stone monuments reach nine million feet… or Possessed eight-tenths of Ecang. It doesn't matter how you managed to do it, as long as you understand the law I left behind within these four Great Arts of Divine Essence, then it will become your law. The more you understand, the more control you will have over this law…

"You only have three breaths. After three breaths, you must tell me what you have understood!" Sui Chen Zi said flatly.

Chapter 832: Ecang as His Clone (7)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The first breath.

As Su Ming was shocked and caught in a daze due to the four Great Arts of Divine Essence, they repeated themselves before his eyes. In that short span of a breath, they repeated themselves thousands of times.

As the first breath passed by, Su Ming realized that he was no longer Sui Chen Zi. He seemed to be able to see a faint layer of black smoke coming from the white-robed and white-haired Sui Chen Zi. There were one hundred thousand faces within that black smoke, and all of them belonged to Su Ming.

When the second breath arrived, the one hundred thousand faces formed by black smoke spread out from Sui Chen Zi's body. Once they gathered together behind him, Su Ming could feel that he now possessed a body, and he was no longer a lost soul in the world.

Once the third breath came, Su Ming saw Sui Chen Zi's back. What appeared in his mind was still the shock he received due to the four Divine Essence Arts. That shock seemed to have vaguely fused with his life, and he had a feeling that he had understood.

After the three breaths, Sui Chen Zi, who had his back turned towards Su Ming, shook his head and gradually left into the distance. When Su Ming's body began to fade away, he suddenly spoke.

"The start of my Life Matrix is midwinter. The world is still, and there is no life there. It's as if a vast amount of snow had covered the earth, and all manner of lives ended… This is… what you mean by with one thought, you can destroy the heavens," Su Ming mumbled, a light of understanding shining in his eyes.

"After midwinter, my Life is that of bloody autumn. With blood, I will dye the sky red, turning it into the color of autumn and gain… the will of autumn. This is a transition between life and death. It is the only state where death and life exists at the same time within my Life Matrix. It is not like the complete stillness within midwinter, but neither is it like the vast amount of life during the searing summer…

"Since both life and death exist at the same time, it is the state of all lives dying, as well as the state of all lives being reborn… This is what you mean when you say with one thought, you can give life to the universe."

Su Ming was whispering absentmindedly, as if he was not talking to anyone but himself. However, Sui Chen Zi, who had his back turned towards Su Ming in the distance, paused in his footsteps when he heard Su Ming say these two things. He kept still and unmoving, as if he thinking about Su Ming's words and waiting for the rest.

"The Life Matrix I came to understand is a path that moves from death to life, just like how midwinter moves towards spring, but the movement from spring to winter in the world is something that cannot be reversed. However, this is what I lack in my Life Matrix. Even if it is something that cannot be reversed, I still have to tread down this path.

"I was originally lost in my path after the bloody autumn. Now, I have come to understand. The searing summer after the bloody autumn should be filled with an abundance of life force. That life force is hot and can burn away everything. That life force is great and can illuminate all manner of lives.

"This life force… might seem real, but in truth, it is fake. Even if it is real in a sense. It can burn me, and also use its heat to burn all the lives in the universe, extinguishing the fire of life within all the living beings.

"Perhaps before it does anything, it is a mere illusion, but once the lives are extinguished, it will become real. Summer… Summer… Burn all lives to light up my own life so that it would become greater… This is what you mean by with one thought, you can make all lives perish."

Su Ming's eyes grew even brighter. This was just like how he had gained that unique epiphany when he was in Eastern Wastelands Tower all those years ago. Now, from the four Great Arts of Divine Essence, he had come to gain an epiphany that not even Sui Chen Zi had expected.

This was an epiphany that belonged solely to Su Ming.

Sui Chen Zi turned around slowly. At the instant he looked towards Su Ming, Su Ming mumbled his final string of words.

"After the searing summer would be spring… Spring, the time when all lives are revived, where all manner of lives will rise. This should be the first step for all life forms, but for me, this is the final step in my path from death to life. With the power of resurrection, I will complete my awakening.

"If I succeed, then with one thought, I'll be able to give life to all manner of living, but if I fail… then with one thought, I will make all lives perish!" A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes and he lifted his eyes to look at Sui Chen Zi. He looked at the old man with white hair and wisdom as well as old age in his eyes, and a firm persistence of his beliefs appeared in Su Ming's face.

"This is my understanding!"

At the instant he said these words, a slightly strange look appeared on Sui Chen Zi's face. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he could not do so. Instead, with some form of epiphany in his eyes along with a sort of dazed look on his face, his body gradually faded away.

Almost at the instant Sui Chen Zi's body vanished, the space around them also disappeared, and Ecang's low roars echoed in Su Ming's heart once again. A powerful will swept through the area, and booms caused by it crashing into Su Ming's soul could be heard rising into the air.

However, in Su Ming's senses, that sound seemed to be incredibly far away from him. At that moment, his soul was completely burnt. However, even as his entire soul was burnt, he noticed that… he did not disappear.

"I was dead to begin with, and even my soul was dead. What would happen if I died again?" Su Ming mumbled.

"It's thought… This is my thought…" Su Ming whispered softly. He remembered the signs that were known as Abyss' Awakening when he first came to control time.

When Dao Yuan came, when the three seals in Su Ming's soul were released, and when that voice telling him that the world was built for Abyss emerged in his head, he could sense that he had moved into the true state of Abyss' Awakening.

Only then was he able to Possess the Crimson Python Phoenix in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and form his new physical body, though Su Ming had not known about it before he Possessed the creature. It had practically been a natural instinct.

"The Duke of Crimson Flame once said that the Abyss Builders can revive the dead… This is an inborn ability that snatches the power of creation from the universe's hands. It does not conform to the will of heaven, and neither is it in harmony with the universe.

"I've been thinking about where this ability came from all this while… Now I understand, after awakening to Abyss, what will awaken again is the ability to build… To build the Abyss, and to build life…

"So Abyss' Awakening requires… a person to die once, truly, completely, and absolutely." As Su Ming mumbled while coming to understand this, a wisp of his soul reappeared, and as it swiftly expanded, it instantly became a complete soul.

This form of completion was different from before he burned his soul, but Su Ming could not tell just what was different about himself. He could only sense that something about him seemed to have risen to a higher level. It was as if the state of being alive and dead existed at the same time in his soul. He was no longer just a dead soul… but was something dead that possessed life.

It was just like how he had come to understand the will of autumn. At that instant, Su Ming became aware that he had truly moved into the will of autumn. Now, not only had he understood it, but his soul had also managed to obtain it.

From then on, the presence of Bright Yang would no longer be a terrifying thing that could wipe him off, because Su Ming's soul was no longer completely dead. It now possessed life. It was caught between life and death, just like autumn.

It was also during that moment that Ecang's enraged roars as well as its cries of surprise filled with disbelief grew close instead of remaining in the distance. They echoed in the area clearly. Ecang's voice was filled with shock, puzzlement and astonishment towards Su Ming's transformation.

Su Ming's soul had occupied eight-tenths of all the golden venous pathways by then, and it had the heart that was filled with the aura of death at the center surrounded. As Su Ming awakened to Abyss and his soul became complete, he began to Possess Ecang once again without any hesitation.

This time, he was clearly much faster than before. As he fought back against Ecang's will, he also noticed… that he seemed to be able to control some power that did not belong to him.

It was the power of law, the law Sui Chen Zi had left behind before his death!

When that understanding surfaced in Su Ming's heart, runic symbols suddenly appeared within the right eyes of all his one hundred thousand faces. Those runic symbols did not exist before, but even though they had just appeared, there was not a hint of unexpectedness within the faces.

The instant they appeared, the one hundred thousand runic symbols within the right eyes of the one hundred thousand faces flew out at the same time. Endless rays of black light spread out from them, and each of them turned into a black shadow.

Su Ming had seen such shadows before. They were those that could kill all the people within the world with one hundred thousand stone monuments.

At that moment, one hundred thousand of such shadows appeared and… bowed at Su Ming. As they did so, he clearly sensed that he could control them.

'Sui Chen Zi was hoping that a person who could successfully Possess Ecang would appear, or else he wouldn't have provided help when I Possessed a third, a half, and eight-tenths of those venous pathways.'

At the instant those shadows appeared, a thought rose in Su Ming's head. Immediately, the one hundred thousand shadows charged towards Ecang's will with furious roars. As they crashed into it with loud booming sounds ringing in the air and as Ecang roared madly, Su Ming immediately started Possessing, raising his coverage from eight- tenths to eighty-five-hundredths.

The parts that had turned black from the golden now occupied most of the territory. Besides the heart at the center, only very little was still shining in gold when Su Ming looked around himself.

Eighty-six, eight-eight, ninety!

Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three…

The one hundred thousand shadows were formed by Sui Chen Zi's law. As they fought against Ecang, Su Ming's soul swiftly spread out. As time passed, Su Ming's soul Possessed ninety-five-hundredths of all the venous pathways!

By then, besides the golden heart that was filled with the aura of death, all the other venous pathways that were previously gold had all turned black. All of them had become Su Ming's property. The power of his soul spread out, and the waves of power that were stirred up caused Ecang to let out a cry of despair.

It was also during that instant that besides the stone monuments that belonged to the ninety something people who received the test, failed, and were chased out at the same time, almost all the stone monuments erupted forth with a powerful ray of lights.

One hundred thousand stone monuments. Besides the small portion of those who had surpassed one million feet, the other ninety thousand something stone monuments shone with a light that spread far and wide. That light was brilliant and piercing to the eyes. As it shone, numerous figures with shock and cries of surprise were forced out of their stone monuments.

Ninety thousand something people!

These ninety thousand something people who wanted to obtain the Divine Essence and who had been immersed in the world formed by their memories in the stone monuments all appeared. This scene shook all the people's hearts, causing them to be unable to help themselves, they cried out in surprise. This was something that had never happened since the time Western Ring Nebula's foreign land was born.

"What happened?!"

"How could this be? I was in the world in the stone monument just now, but I was forcefully expelled by a will that I could not fight against."

"Could it be… Could it be that someone has reached ten million feet? That's impossible. There's no stone monument here that is ten million feet tall."

"Look. That is… Our stone monuments, they are…"

Cries of surprise rang in the air. The last one was especially piercing, and immediately, all the people in the place were stunned. To their shock, they discovered that besides their own name, another one had suddenly appeared on their stone monuments.

That name was above theirs, as if the owner of that name was the true owner of all the stone monuments, the true master of the land with the one hundred thousand stone monuments!

The additional name… was Mo Su!

Zhou Kang stood by the side and stared at Su Ming's stone monument blankly. Unbidden, the image of Su Ming listening to his experiences seriously when he had just arrived in this place appeared in his mind.

Chapter 833: Ecang as His Clone (8)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As Zhou Kang looked over, the ninety something people who had taken the test to make their stone monuments reach one million feet and failed at the same time looked swiftly towards the stone monument which had yet to go down in height. With expressions that had changed drastically, they stared at the monument that belonged to the person which had received the test with them, but was the only one who did not come out.

They clearly remembered that this person was known as Mo Su!

At that moment, his name had appeared on nearly one hundred thousand stone monuments. This shocked everyone, and within their hearts, countless guesses arose, each of which could make their breath quicken.

The returnees weren't the only ones to notice this. Gradually, more took note of it, and after a moment, all the cultivators who were forced out of their worlds in their stone monuments turned their gazes towards one of the many stone monuments on the land.

That was… Mo Su's stone monument.

The buzzing of voices gradually dispersed in the land of the one hundred thousand stone monuments, replaced by death-like silence. All the people watched Su Ming's stone monument, and as their expressions changed, myriads of thoughts passed through their heads.

It was especially so for the people who had come for Su Ming's life. Their expressions were incredibly complicated. Perhaps to the others, Mo Su's name and status were unfamiliar, but these people had come solely for him. If it had not been because of the laws in this place interfering with their actions, they would have attacked him a long time ago. Their understanding of Su Ming was much greater compared to the others, but due to that greater knowledge, their feelings were even more complicated, and they were even more troubled.

As the people in the land with the one hundred thousand stone monuments fell silent, within the one hundred thousand venous pathways in the trees of the equally numbered galaxies, Ecang truly panicked when Su Ming successfully Possessed ninety-five-hundredths of the venous pathways.

Its angered roars brought with them the fright from the bottom of its heart, along with the wariness and terror. Its roars echoed nonstop.

This was because once Su Ming occupied all of the golden venous pathways, which caused them to turn black, his soul began his final Possession of the one hundred thousand hearts that were exactly the same, filled with the aura of death and located at the center of the venous pathways.

Once Su Ming successfully Possessed those hearts, he would have completed a nigh impossible Possession. From then on, there would no longer be Ecang, only… Su Ming's strongest clone of Ecang!

"No! You can't do this! You low-life! You shameless thief! You can't do this! I, Ecang, am the one and only existence in the universe! I am a life form that stands above all in the universe! What right do you have to Possess me?!" Ecang's will let out a hysterical, enraged roar.

Booming sounds echoed in the air, stirring up endless ripples that spread out and swept up in all directions, shaking the one hundred thousand galaxies so badly that they started trembling violently. In fact, a large amount of cracks appeared in space, as if those galaxies were about to crumble.

The booming sounds came from Ecang's hysterical will crashing viciously against Sui Chen Zi's one hundred thousand shadows. However, it did not matter whether it were Ecang's roars or the booming sounds in the area, they did not manage to make Su Ming falter for even a moment. With the one hundred thousand shadows formed by Sui Chen Zi's law fighting against Ecang's will, it was simply unable to stop Su Ming's actions.

As Su Ming's soul spread out, not only did he completely cover all of the golden venous pathways, but his soul also surged forward from all directions towards the golden hearts within their respective venous pathways that were within the one hundred thousand trees.

It was as if a golden sheet of drawing paper had been stained by black ink, with only the spot at the center having yet escaped the calamity. At that moment though, that boundless black ink was swiftly spreading towards the only empty spot, intending to completely dye that piece of paper black.

One hundred thousand galaxies roared. One hundred thousand trees trembled viciously. One hundred thousand Ecang's wills roared and howled. As their voices echoed in the air, Su Ming's heart touched those one hundred thousand hearts that were filled with the aura of death.

At the instant he did so, a boom rang out in his soul once again, and it was the same sound that he'd heard after he occupied a third, a half, and an eight-tenths of the venous pathways. Once again… a new illusory picture emerged in his soul!

When Su Ming had occupied a third of the venous pathways, he had seen Ecang's soul and its gigantic body. He had been incredibly shocked, but it was also at that moment that he learned that the tree was known as Ecang.

As time passed, when Su Ming occupied half of those venous pathways, he saw a scene that brought him an even greater shock and even despair. It had been the one hundred thousand galaxies, one hundred thousand golden seas, and one hundred thousand trees that he saw!

In that scene, Su Ming sensed the difference between what was real and what was false, the difference between illusions and reality, but he still did not give up and made his soul successfully occupy eight-tenths of all the venous pathways.

During that instant, Su Ming saw Sui Chen Zi. He had even become him at that instant and sensed his four Divine Essence Arts, and in the end, verified his Life Matrix, thereby… mastering Sui Chen Zi's law!

It could be said that if these three pictures had not appeared in his soul, then Su Ming would have definitely been unable to reach this point, which was a point that no one had managed to reach since ancient times. The illusions that appeared in his soul those three times were like three powerful boosts of power, while also acting as three great tests. As long as one got through those tests, then they would be able to obtain help.

All of this had clearly been left behind by someone beforehand. His goal was naturally to make things slightly easier for when the descendants of the later generations came to Possess Ecang, but he only made things slightly easier. If Su Ming had not done the things he did, then even with those three aids, he would have still been unable to reach his current state.

Clearly, the person who had left behind all those… was Sui Chen Zi!

At that moment, as the picture emerged in his soul, Su Ming clearly knew that this was the fourth time Sui Chen Zi would help him… and it was also likely… that this would be the last time!

Booms rang in Su Ming's soul, and as they did so, he saw a broken universe.

That universe was boundless and limitless. Su Ming did not know precisely how big it was, but he had a vague feeling that this was a True World. It was a gigantic, complete True World, so great that its size could not be described with words!

Su Ming might not be able to describe how big the universe was, but he could use what he knew about the four Great True Worlds to compare them. This… was also a True World!

Yet this True World was damaged in many ways. Booms from the universe falling apart echoed in Su Ming's heart. They continued without stop, becoming louder.

When he cast a glance over, the endless planets within that boundless galaxy were rapidly falling apart and turning into rubble. The countless lives within them were also reduced to dust at that instant. It was as if… the galaxy was dying, the planets were falling into destruction, and all manner of living were returning to the embrace of earth.

Everything within this universe had moved to the end of their path, just as a human's life, and it was rapidly… heading towards the absolute end.

Even the cultivation planets that still had an abundant amount of life force a breath ago were surrounded by the aura of death within a breath, and the entire galaxy was instantly occupied by a dense aura of death.

"The final world in the universe… too cannot escape the disaster of death… I, Sui Chen Zi, also am powerless to fight against it, huh..? I… failed," an ancient voice thick with sorrow echoed in the universe.

Su Ming saw Sui Chen Zi walking into the dying galaxy while dressed in white. His hair was a mess, and he was laughing long and hard at the sky. However, when that laughter fell into his ears, there was clearly grief contained within it that was difficult to describe with words.

"But I… have also succeeded!" In the midst of Sui Chen Zi's anguished laughter, Su Ming looked at him in a daze, and he saw a shard falling off Sui Chen Zi's face. Then… an endless amount of them fell off Sui Chen Zi's whole body. He looked as if he was formed of countless shards. At that moment, as they fell, his body shattered to pieces.

"If I die, then this world will turn to dust. If I close my eyes, then this cosmos will have no light… Descendant who inherits my Divine Essence, remember how I die, and remember… that the laws governing the operations of the universe also die, as well as that the universe does not possess thought…

"I failed, that's why I am destroyed, but I also succeeded, which is why… I give you hope!"

As Sui Chen Zi laughed, his body turned into numerous shards, which then transformed into a whirlwind. When it spread out, Su Ming immediately saw that only the heart remained from Sui Chen Zi's crumbled body.

It was a golden heart. When Su Ming saw it, he felt as if she saw a whole world. This was an indescribable feeling, and Su Ming only had a similar experience once, when he saw the numerous life forms from the World Stone when he was still in Crimson Flame Planet. However, the feeling he had right now was much stronger than what he sensed from the World Stone. In fact, the difference between the intensity of the two was difficult to compare.

It was as if one was the bright sun, and the other just the flickering light from a firefly!

Su Ming was shocked by this scene. He looked at the heart in the whirlwind, and suddenly, though he did not know whether this was just a figment of his imagination, he saw… a seed on that heart!

The seed possessed ten colors, and it was hidden within that golden light.

Before Su Ming could see it clearly, Sui Chen Zi's body completely dispersed in an abrupt manner, and the galaxy as well as the cosmos tumbled forward, charging towards that golden heart. As they did so, the galaxy and the cosmos experienced continuous destruction. Their laws were shattered, their rules disappeared, the lives within them passed away, their planets died, the flow of time became chaotic as the galaxy and cosmos tumbled forward to gather at the heart. In fact, the memories of a countless life forms before their deaths also turned into fragmented thoughts. They turned into an invisible windstorm in this dying galaxy… until this former True World surged completely into the golden heart before Su Ming's eyes, and the spot where the galaxy had been located previously turned into a void that had no life.

Boom!

Su Ming saw with his own eyes as the golden heart that had gathered together a True World turned… into a gigantic vortex. There was an endless amount of cracks beyond the vortex, and by the looks of it, it was Western Ring Nebula's foreign land!

Before Su Ming's shock could fade away, the scene he saw next brought him an even greater shock that surpassed the totality of what he'd experienced through the scenes that were shown to him when he occupied a third, a half, and eight-tenths of the venous pathways.

He saw a gigantic tree that towered into the heavens. With a great presence, a crazed ferociousness, and a mighty pressure that surpassed Sui Chen Zi's, it had been born within the vortex!

In the span of a breath, its size surpassed the vortex, as if the tree was devouring it as its nutrients and the Divine Essence within it so it could grow.

The big tree surpassed the size of Ecang Su Ming saw, but it… was clearly Ecang. However, its color was not just purely purple. Instead… it had all ten colors!

During that instant, a sound of a shoot sprouting that was akin to the sound a baby made when it was born came from the tree!

"E… cang…"

These were just two indistinct syllables, but there was a terrifying might contained within them that made it seem as if with just one thought, the tree could destroy Su Ming several millions of times. His heart trembled at that!

It was powerful. It was indescribably powerful. It was the universe's supreme power, and had in fact… surpassed the universe's strongest power!

"The complete… Ecang," Su Ming mumbled as his pupils shrank.