841 - 847

Chapter 841: Who Do You Think You Are?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The fight and subsequent killing between life forms of the same level is known as robbing another's life. It is murder. The oppression of the strong towards the weak is something the strong bring with a presence that can change weather with just a flip of their hands. Their killing of the weak is known as granting others death.

As for… those that had surpassed the categories of life, their killing would be the will of heaven gathering its attention on ants. That could no longer be known as murder, not could it be known as granting someone death. This was purely wiping off someone's existence from the face of the world.

It was like how an artist drew on a drawing board. Within the picture were lives, and when the artist swiped their hand across the drawing board, the picture would be wiped off, and along with it, all the lives within it.

At that moment, the lingering cries from those who had already died still echoed in the ears of everyone within the land of the one hundred thousand stone monuments. Once they witnessed how Su Ming had casually swung his arm and caused the deaths of nearly a hundred people, the idea of these people being wiped off rose in all their heads.

Fear, anxiety, panic, shock, and various other emotions turned into a suffocating feeling, causing the world of the one hundred thousand stone monument to turn deathly silent at that instant. Almost all the people instinctively looked towards Su Ming, including Zhou Kang, and their gazes were filled with deep reverence.

How could they not be able to tell that the laws of Sui Chen Zi in this land were obeying Su Ming?

How could they not be able to tell that not only were Sui Chen Zi's laws obeying him, it could even be said that there was a special connection between them?

If someone had control over the laws in the world of the one hundred thousand stone monuments, then that person would be someone that no one dared to provoke, because he could determine a person's life and death.

In fact, if Su Ming wanted to, he could make Sui Chen Zi's law immediately kill all the people here. However, by doing so, he would completely break ties with the nine Ecang souls. From then on, they would be greatly averse to his presence, and the nine souls would also be wary of him. If Su Ming wanted to devour them in the future, it would be incredibly difficult.

Besides, if Su Ming wiped off the existences of all the people here, then there was a possibility that the nine Ecang souls would even work together to resist him. There would be more losses compared to benefits in this matter. That was why even if the temptation was incredibly great, Su Ming did not choose such an extreme method.

Furthermore, the law in the land was set to protect people, not only kill them. If Su Ming brought up this kind of request, perhaps the law would remain silent. After all, Sui Chen Zi's law was obeying Su Ming because what he was doing was within what was allowed. Until… Su Ming's power could set a new law in this place.

Su Ming remained calm. Taking away nearly a hundred people's lives seemed to be completely insignificant to him. He did not bother about whether these people had truly died. To him, this was not important.

What was important was that these people whose existences were wiped off had come to this place to kill him because of the rewards offered by the four Great True Worlds. But besides that, they had cursed him.

Because of that, they lost the right to continue living and obtained freedom, the kind Su Ming gave to them. They no longer needed to eternally sink into the worlds within the stone monuments in the land.

As the people around looked at Su Ming with respect in their eyes, he lifted his head and swept his gaze past them. All those who met his gaze would feel their hearts shudder. It did not matter what level of cultivation they had, as long as they were a person in this land, they would instinctively lower their heads, not daring to meet Su Ming's gaze, to incite his wrath.

Su Ming swept his gaze around the area, and paused for a moment on Zhou Kang. He had previously seen that Zhou Kang's stone monument was blue.

In the end, Su Ming's gaze landed on the man who was still twitching on the ground. This person only had a breath left in his body, and his body was already as thin as a skeleton, even though he was not screaming in pain.

This man was the first person who had attacked Su Ming, and his stone monument was purple. If Su Ming wanted to kill him, he did not need to make any sort of explanations to the nine Ecang souls, because this man was Su Ming's tribute.

"Since you must have experienced a lot of difficulties in walking down the path of cultivation and you are my tribute, I will spare you," Su Ming said flatly and swung his right hand. Immediately, the man who had been shivering and twitching on the ground stopped trembling. Once he recovered his consciousness, he stood up with great difficulty. His fear towards Su Ming reached extreme heights, and he quickly wrapped his fist in his palm to bow deeply towards Su Ming.

The word tribute fell into his ears and also entered the minds of all the others in the area, turning into surprise and bewilderment.

"The hundreds of you are all my tributes." As Su Ming spoke flatly, he walked forward. When he arrived next to the man, the person put on a look of reverence and followed after.

When Su Ming arrived before the hundreds of newcomers, he did not stop, but a mighty pressure that only those hundreds of people could notice spread out from his body.

This mighty pressure was like the might of heaven itself to these hundreds of cultivators. At the instant they sensed it, their hearts trembled furiously, and a feeling as if Su Ming controlled their lives and deaths rose strongly in their hearts.

This feeling was incredibly real, and they discovered to their shock that their heartbeats were beating at the same rate, and this heartbeat belonged to Su Ming.

If Su Ming's heart beat once, then their hearts would also beat once. This strange event caused the hundreds of people to move back altogether as Su Ming walked towards them. In fact, a few dozen of them even had loud booming sounds ringing in their minds as their faces turned pale. The mighty pressure spreading out from Su Ming's soul caused their minds to feel as if they were about to break. It was as if there was a powerful will in their minds at that moment, and it was forcing them to kneel towards Su Ming, who was walking over.

It felt like if they did not kneel and worship him, they would be destroyed. If they did not worship him, their souls would no longer be in their control. One of the young men fell down to his knees with a thump as his body shivered, becoming the second person after the big man who had attacked Su Ming just now to kneel and worship him.

Soon after, the second, third, fourth… When Su Ming walked over, these hundreds of people fell to their knees and worshiped him. When Su Ming arrived before Zhao Family's Progenitor, the hundreds of people around the purple stone were all kneeling.

Zhao Family's Progenitor had long since averted his gaze from the air above him and focused his attention on Su Ming. As Su Ming walked over and the hundreds of people knelt down to worship him, the mighty pressure pressing down on his mind caused his breathing to quicken, the veins on his face to pop up, and sweat cover his entire body.

He was fighting against the will in his body, fighting against his own soul. As Zhao Family's Progenitor, he would definitely not kneel down to anyone, but the strength of the will in his body was a form of suppression that was born from the soul, not from cultivation bases, so Zhao Family's Progenitor could only tremble furiously while letting out low roars.

"We meet again," Su Ming said calmly, coming to a stop before Zhao Family's Progenitor.

Zhao Family's Progenitor did not say a single word, because he could not speak at that moment. All his strength was used to fight against the power in his soul. The moment he laxed his guard, he would immediately be unable to control his body and he would kneel.

This was only secondary though, because even if Su Ming made him kneel, he was only making his body kneel. What truly made Zhao Family's Progenitor afraid and had him regretting stepping into the foreign land in order to avoid being killed was because he could sense that he fought against his own soul. He discovered that not only his mind and spirit were afraid of Su Ming, but he also respected him. In fact, there was even an intention within him to submit to him, and it was one he could not fight against.

This was not just a feeling from his body, but something that came from his soul and his mind. It was as if after he stepped into the foreign land, a person had showed up to take control of his life, and he now had a master.

Su Ming did not speak again. He simply stood before Zhao Family's Progenitor quietly. The hundreds of people worshiping him around caused the tens of thousands of people standing at the edges of the group to find their jaws falling slack in shock once they witnessed this.

At that moment, the one word Su Ming said just now rose in their heads.

"Tribute."

'Just what serendipity did he receive in the stone monument's world? How can he… How can he be so strong?!'

'Even the laws are obeying him. The land of the stone monuments also experienced two abnormalities. This must be the reason why he could become so strong!'

'Just what did he do? What did he receive? Why are those hundreds of people worshiping him… Could it be… that he became the law?'

'Even if his stone monument reached one million feet and he gained control of a portion of Divine Essence's power, I don't remember anyone who could compare to him among all the people who made their stone monuments reach one million feet over the course of time.

'In fact, forget one million feet. Even those who made their stone monuments reach two, three or even more million feet could not do this.'

There was no buzz of discussion, but these thoughts were part of everyone as expressions of respect appeared on their faces. As they kept thinking about it, their minds turned into windstorms of various thoughts and feelings.

Zhao Family's Progenitor's body was drenched in sweat. He shivered even more violently, and blood capillaries filled the whites of his eyes. As despair appeared on his face, he… slowly knelt down. When his knees touched the ground, he worshiped Su Ming, just like all the others around him.

Almost at the instant Zhao Family's Progenitor knelt down and worshiped Su Ming, loud bangs rang out above, and a large crack tore through the air. A long string of laughter echoed in the air, and a person walked out from the crack.

"A thousand years have passed, and I've returned to this place. Zhao Tian Gang, you old bastard, did you think that if you escaped here, you'd find the reason why I became stronger?! I'll tell you the truth, my real goal was to force you into this land!

"I will cause you to sink endlessly into nothingness. I will make you suffer the pain I endured after you forced me into this place. I've already granted death to thousands of those in your family. Don't worry. When my stone monument reaches two million feet, I will venture out for a thousand years again, and I will slaughter the rest of your family." As the long string of laughter echoed in the air, all the people noticed an old man in a long blue robe walking out from the air.

"A person with a stone monument of one million feet! This person… is Gong Sun Yin!"

"It's him. It's Gong Sun Yin. He left this place a thousand years ago, and now he's back." Some of the people in the area immediately recognized the old man.

The old man was ugly, and his hair was a mess, but he had reached the later stage of World Plane Realm. He was walking forward with an arrogant look on his face, but when he saw Zhao Family's Progenitor kneeling before Su Ming, his voice died away, and a surprised look appeared on his face.

Zhao Family's Progenitor remained silent. The long string of laughter and the voice in his ears made him lower his head. A wave of complicated feelings he could not describe turned into desolation and anguish in his heart.

He did not lift his head to look at his enemy who had killed most of his family members and forced him to step into the foreign land to hide, because at the moment he knelt down, he had already sunk into despair.

Su Ming lifted his head.

"Only I alone am allowed to rebuke my tributes, who do you think you are?" Su Ming said flatly.

Chapter 842: Leaving the Foreign Land

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Once Su Ming said those words, Zhao Family's Progenitor shuddered before him. He lifted his head swiftly and looked at over blankly. No matter what, he did not expect that Su Ming would speak up to help him.

Su Ming's strength was incredibly mysterious to Zhao Family's Progenitor. He did not know what the other had experienced, but when he saw how he swung his hand and caused the deaths of nearly one hundred people and how hundreds of people, including himself, had knelt down and worshiped him as he walked towards them, his mind was left in confusion.

The submission of his soul terrified Zhao Family's Progenitor, and at the same time, an indescribable respect towards Su Ming rose within him. In fact, from all the other people's gazes around him, he could tell that someone like Su Ming had never appeared in Western Ring Nebula's foreign land from what these tens of thousands of people could remember.

What caused him to be apprehensive just now was that he could faintly sense with his level of cultivation that Sui Chen Zi's law had truly obeyed Su Ming's command when he waved his hand.

All of this was a clear sign that Su Ming was an unusual existence in this place.

Almost the instant Su Ming said his words, the tens of thousands of people in the area fell into a dead silence. They quickly lowered their heads. Everything that Su Ming had showed just now had already caused their hearts to be in shock, and as Su Ming's words echoed in the air, they had no choice but to be silent.

The crowd's silence brought a mysterious atmosphere to the place. Gong Sun Yin was momentarily stunned as he stood in the air, but after he recovered, he looked at Su Ming.

His pupils shrank. He had not returned to this place for a thousand years. When he returned now, he had felt that there was something incredibly off. The first thing was the sight of the hundreds of people kneeling and worshiping somebody. During the years he had been in this place, he had never seen anything like it.

The second thing was how that simple sentence from the person who was being worshiped by the hundreds of people had caused tens of thousands of people to fall silent, and none of them even dared to lift their heads. All of them did not dare to speak, and this caused Gong Sun Yin's heart to let out a thump.

He had a feeling that something very bad was about to happen.

'Just what happened here during the one thousand years I was gone? This person… I've never seen him before. He must be someone who arrived after I left.'

A glint shone in Gong Sun Yin's eyes. His ability to reach the later stage of World Plane Realm might be related to this place, but his intelligence was definitely nothing ordinary as well. At that moment, an amiable smile appeared on his face, and he nodded towards Su Ming.

"Brother, how may I address you? My name is Gong Sun Yin, and in this place, my stone monument has reached one million feet—"

Su Ming cut off Gong Sun Yin's words and flatly repeated again, "I'm asking you, who do you think you are?"

Su Ming's brusque words immediately caused killing intent to shine in Gong Sun Yin's eyes. Ever since he reached the later stage of World Plane Realm, he hadn't met anyone who would dare speak to him in this manner. He let out a cold harrumph, and the killing intent in his eyes became greater. As he stared at Su Ming, his lips curled up into a smile, but it did not reach his eyes.

"Ever since my stone monument reached one million feet, you are the first person who dared speak to me in such a manner. Looks like leaving this place for one thousand years has caused the newcomers to forget my reputation.

"Oh well, I won't punish you too greatly, but I will have you know that the ones who have made their stone monuments reach one million feet are the people who are primarily selected by the Divine Essence in this place. We are not people newcomers like you can easily provoke!" Gong Sun Yin sneered and lifted his right hand swiftly before pointing towards the ground.

"Come forth, my stone monument!" At the instant he spoke, a stone monument that was one million feet tall let out booming sounds and floated up from the ground before it went to him.

Gong Sun Yin's name was carved clearly on the one million feet tall stone monument. It was huge and stretched out boundlessly. At that moment, once it floated up, the expressions of the people in the area changed.

"This is one of the divine abilities which is granted to those who are primarily selected. They can push down other people's stone monuments and make them shrink!"

"That's right. That's the divine ability that only those chosen can obtain. I've seen one of the stone monuments from one of those chosen pushing down a nine hundred thousand something feet stone monument to instantly become merely tens of thousands of feet tall, causing the hard work worth dozens of years to be gone just like that. If that person had not immediately begged for mercy, as long as that chosen he offended remained in the place, he would never be able to make his stone monument reach one million feet."

"Gong Sun Yin is one of those chosen, and Mo Su has a lot of mysterious secrets surrounding him. His stone monument is also one million feet. I wonder what will happen if the two of them fight each other."

The buzz of discussions instantly rose in the area. Light from Gong Sun Yin's stone monument shone far and wide, and as it spread out in the land, all the stone monuments immediately became blurry, with only Su Ming's stone monument alone remaining as distinct as ever.

This was the effect of the divine ability of those primarily chosen. It could allow them to automatically find the stone monument that belonged to the person they wanted without the use of divine sense, and at the instant Su Ming's stone monument appeared, Gong Sun Yin frowned.

Su Ming's stone monument was also one million feet tall.

Gong Sun Yin laughed coldly in his heart. Even if both their stone monuments were one million feet tall, his own had been at that height since one thousand years ago, while it was clear that Su Ming's had only reached one million feet after his. If that was the case, he could still push down Su Ming's stone monument slightly. The effect might be nothing extraordinary, but it could still shock the other.

"Push it down." Gong Sun Yin let out a cold harrumph, and his stone monument immediately rushed towards Su Ming's to press down on it.

Su Ming's expression remained as calm as ever as the stone monument pushed down on his own. There was not a hint of change that could be detected on his face. In fact, it was the same for his stone monument. However… at the instant Gong Sun Yin's stone monument pushed down, it immediately started cracking from the bottom, and with a bang, it even began showing signs of crumbling.

This scene immediately caused an uproar in the area. It also made Gong Sun Yin's expression change drastically. He quickly controlled his stone monument and lifted it. Then, with an expression as if he had just seen a ghost, he looked towards Su Ming.

Within Su Ming's eyes, Gong Sun Yin's stone monument was blue. He was a tribute of the blue Ecang. There were ten thousand such stone monuments in this place.

If they were in the world outside, then in the face of this old monster in the later stage of World Plane Realm, Su Ming would need to use his power to fight against him, but here, he did not need to do that. He lifted his right hand and pointed towards Gong Sun Yin's stone monument.

With this move, booming sounds echoed in the air. During that instant, the signs of shattering on Gong Sun Yin's stone monument became even more intense. Cracks appeared like hideous scars, and Gong Sun Yin's expression changed to reveal great shock. He immediately became alarmed.

The damage against stone monuments could directly affect a person's soul, so how could he not be afraid of it?

"No! Damn it, how dare you damage my stone monument?! If you can use the divine abilities of those primarily chosen, then I can, too!"

It was clear that Gong Sun Yin had misunderstood. Su Ming had activated the law in the land with that pointing of his finger. However, as a primarily chosen, Gong Sun Yin had thought of another unique ability that belonged to people such as him.

"Master! I, Gong Sun Yin, beg of you to descend to this place! Please lend me the power of the law here and protect my stone monument as well as suppress this person!"

Gong Sun Yin let out a low growl. When his stone monument had reached one million feet all those years ago and he became one of the primarily chosen, he had seen a ray of blue light that stretched endlessly. The strength of that blue light was so great that it could destroy him with just one thought.

In fact, the blue light had given him a feeling that his soul had submitted to it, as if it was his master, and his master had granted him the unique Arts given to those who were primarily chosen. He could use his stone monument to push down other people's monuments, and he was also given the right to summon his master thrice. Every single time he summoned his master, he could implore his master to help him do one thing.

This was the second time he used this right. The first time was before he left this place. He had summoned his master's will to descend to this place and open up space so that he could leave for one thousand years.

This might seem like one thousand years of freedom to others, but to those who were primarily chosen, they knew that this freedom was given to them in the form of an exchange… and the longest possible time they were allowed out was only one thousand years. After that, they could no longer make that request again.

Right then, at the instant he said those words, he had great confidence that his master's will was the strongest here and could affect the laws as well as change everything. That was a strength that he had never seen before in his life. As his master's will descended, he could definitely make this junior take a good look and make him know that provoking those who are primarily chosen was the biggest mistake in one's life!

He could even imagine how this junior's expression would change drastically after a moment. He would scream shrilly and would kneel down to plead for mercy before him.

He could also use this chance to strike a heavy blow to Zhao Tian Gang's confidence, sinking him into greater despair and having him taste the pain he had suffered all those years ago.

A cruel smile appeared on Gong Sun Yin's lips. He looked at Su Ming, who still looked as calm as ever, and his smile turned into a sneer filled with derision.

Almost at the instant that sneer appeared, he sensed the familiar presence of his master's will descending in its greatness to this place with a loud boom. Within an instant, it filled the area above his stone monument… but the shattering of his stone monument… still continued!

It might have become much slower, but it continued, as if even his master could not completely prevent his stone monument from crumbling further.

Gong Sun Yin's expression immediately changed. This surpassed his expectations and his mind instantly turn black, but he still had a stroke of luck.

"Purple!"

A dignified voice echoed in Gong Sun Yin's soul. He immediately recognized that this was his master's voice, but it was not directed to him. He could only hear it. At the instant he was taken aback by that one word, he heard another voice.

"Blue."

He was familiar with this voice. It belonged to that young man that was worshiped by hundreds of people, including Zhao Family's Progenitor, and who Gong Sun Yin had just mocked, prepared to teach him a lesson.

"This person is my primarily chosen tribute, could you spare him this once?" His master's divine thought reverberated in the air. This was a voice that only Gong Sun Yin could hear among all the others in the land, because the blue Ecang's will was summoned by him to this place.

However, what left Gong Sun Yin in shock and disbelief was that his master's voice was speaking to Su Ming with a tone as if he was negotiating with him. This made his heart tremble furiously and his breathing almost froze. He did not know just what sort of existence he had provoked that even his master would need to negotiate with it.

"Let your tribute Zhou Kang leave your stone monument and become my tribute."

Su Ming's divine thought traveled forth flatly, but in Gong Sun Yin's ears, this was a tone which placed itself on completely equal terms with his master. Once he remembered how his master's will had spoken with a negotiating tone, a frightening through rose in Gong Sun Yin's mind. This speculation made his heart quiver, and when he looked towards Su Ming, his expression was filled with utmost shock.

This scene was filled with a bizarre air to all the others in the area who saw this, because they could only see Gong Sun Yin stunned in midair, his face filled with shock and terror.

"Very well." The blue Ecang's will did not hesitate and agreed to it.

"This person can be spared from death, but he cannot escape being punished. To show that all of us ten souls are equal, he should sink into the ranks of those who are not chosen once again to serve as a warning to others."

"Very well, but you are not to find an excuse and cause my tributes to disrespect you again."

"All right."

The blue Ecang's will retreated, and Su Ming's will also faded away. During that instant, Gong Sun Yin's stone monument shrank rapidly, eventually turning to only thirty thousand something feet before it fell on the ground once again.

This scene immediately stirred up great commotion among the people.

"A stone monument of a primarily chosen… has shrank to only tens of thousands of feet!"

"Gong Sun Yin's right as a primarily chosen has been cancelled. This is… How could this be? Could it be because he provoked Mo Su? How could this Mo Su be so strong? I remember that he was the same as us in the past!"

"Just what sort of serendipity did Mo Su obtain? Could it be… could it be..?"

"We absolutely cannot provoke this sort of person. This sort of existence is someone that no one can dominate!"

"I remember that he entered the world in the stone monument through the Five Illusory Echelons in the beginning. Could it be that those who enter the stone monument through the Five Illusory Echelons become this strong in the future? But in the past, there had been quite a few who entered the stone monuments through the path of the Five Illusory Echelons… and no one was like this."

At this moment, the color of Zhou Kang's stone monument changed abruptly, turning purple, while one empty stone monument out of the ten thousand that belonged to Su Ming also turned blue.

However, this was something no one could see. In fact, not even Zhou Kang himself noticed this.

Gong Sun Yin's face turned pale, and as his body trembled, he fell to the ground. He looked at Su Ming, and the terror in his heart could no longer be described with words. At that moment, he was already certain that Su Ming was an existence that was the same as his master. In fact… Su Ming was no longer a cultivator, but a part of this foreign land.

He did not dare provoke such an existence, much less grumble or complain.

"Sir Purple, thank you for sparing my life."

As Gong Sun Yin said these words, the buzz of discussion in the area became even stronger. Su Ming ignored Gong Sun Yin, as well as Zhao Family's Progenitor, who was by his side and was shocked by this scene. Instead, he looked towards Zhou Kang, who was staring at him with a bewildered expression.

"Big brother Zhou, do you want to leave this place?"

"Can… I leave?" Zhou Kang lifted his head with a dazed expression and looked at Su Ming.

"As long as you want to."

"Can she… be revived?" Great hope appeared in Zhou Kang's dazed eyes.

Su Ming fell silent, then shook his head.

"I'll stay here."

Zhou Kang laughed brokenly, as if he had lost his soul. He knew that if he left this place, he would never be able to see his wife again, but in this place, at the very least… he had the memories in the world of the stone monument to keep him company, even though he knew that the person within them was just a recollection.

Su Ming sighed softly. The figures of several women appeared in his mind. After a long while, he shook his head. He respected Zhou Kang's loyal love for his wife, but in this world, besides romantic love, there were other forms of love that needed to be protected.

As he turned around, he lifted his right hand and tapped the unresisting Zhao Family's Progenitor between the brows. The memories of the past one thousand years appeared in his mind, and once Su Ming scanned through the changes in the world outside, he pulled back his finger and swung his arm at his stone monument.

Immediately, the words Mo Su gradually disappeared from the stone monument that belonged to him. The one million feet tall stone monument also instantly started shrinking, eventually turning to an empty one that was only several tens of thousands of feet tall.

Su Ming no longer needed a stone monument.

The people could not understand this. They could only remain silent and in shock. The only person who understood this was Gong Sun Yin. At the instant he saw this scene, he completely understood what was going on.

'As expected… he is the same as my master. He's not a candidate, but has become an existence that chooses others.'

Su Ming cast one look at Zhou Kang, then turned around to take a step into the air. Under the gazes of the tens of thousands of people in the area, he stepped into space and gradually fused into it before he left.

At this time, Su Ming's voice echoed within the minds of the hundreds of people with the purple stone monuments, including Zhao Tian Gang's.

"I am the will of the land. All of you, train here and try to gain your epiphany in this place. I promise you, when the day comes that I complete my Dao, all of you will be completely free."

Chapter 843: Kong Huan

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the Sinful Barren Lands, within the four Great Galaxies, at the core beyond Western Ring Nebula, beyond its foreign lands, cracks filled the endless galaxy. The area was filled with silence. Not too far away from the foreign land's area was a gigantic ancient bronze sword floating about. That sword was thirty thousand something feet long, and it remained still and unmoving in the galaxy.

There were three people sitting on the tip of the sword. One of them was an old man, the other middle-aged, and the last a teenage boy. The three of them were just sitting there, but their presence already made the galaxy around them to distort, a telling sign of how extraordinary their power was.

All of them were in the middle stage of World Plane Realm, and they were the True Guards that belonged to the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over the barren lands.

Behind them, on the huge blade of the ancient sword, were three hundred people in black armor, who were sitting quietly and meditating. Their eyes were shut tight, and the still presence spreading out from them made them seem dead.

In the silence, the middle-aged man said slowly with a slight displeasure on his face, "So many years have passed. Isn't Lord Vice General just making a big fuss over this. There's absolutely no meaning in changing shifts once every two hundred years to monitor this place."

"There must be a reason why Lord Vice General did this. After all, that Mo Su caused quite a ruckus in the past." The person who answered the man was the old man beside him, and his words were unhurried. The old man was dressed in a white robe, and his white hair fell on his shoulders. He did not look to excited, though.

"What other reason could there be? That Mo Su is just a cultivator at the initial stage of World Plane Realm. It was difficult to kill him because he was hard to track down. If that had not been the case, I could have easily killed him.

"He must have already died after he fled into the foreign lands, and he's causing trouble to us by making us suffer and wait here. We still have about fifty something years before someone will take our place." The man shook his head and cast his gaze on the boy who was seated right before them.

"Kong Huan, you are the third sword attendant of our Lord Vice General. What do you think?"

"You're very noisy," the boy named Kong Huan replied flatly with eyes closed. There was a green sword placed on his knees, and he had his hands pressed flat on its blade.

The man was not angered, but as he laughed heartily, a hint of derision flashed in the depths of his eyes. Lord Vice General had nine sword attendants, but only Kong Huan was tasked to monitor this place over the past thousand years. No one else came to take his place. Every single time there was a change in shifts, only the True Guards would be changed.

In his mind, the middle-aged man believed that Lord Vice General was not fond of Kong Huan, and this was just another form of banishment.

After all, this place was barren of resources, making it difficult for one's cultivation base to grow and improve. It was a big difference from training within the place where the forces of power were stationed. Over there, their level of cultivation would be able to increase by a large margin within a thousand years.

As the three people exchanged this meaningless talk, they did not notice a person standing before them in the area where the endless cracks leading to the foreign lands filled the space.

It was as if this person was invisible in their eyes and did not exist.

"A thousand years passed by so quickly… I originally thought that the time in the foreign lands was different from the world outside, but from what I obtained from Zhao Family's Progenitor made it very clear that the flow of time is the same," Su Ming mumbled. The three True Guards could not see him, but he could see them. In fact, Su Ming had known a long time ago that there were people monitoring this place from the area beyond the foreign lands. This was something he learned clearly from Zhao Tian Gang's memories.

However, these three people and the three hundred people behind them were completely ignored by Su Ming. The memories of the things that happened after he was forced into the foreign lands one thousand years ago fleeted past his mind, and he gradually fell silent.

One thousand years became a passing flash of starlight. However, the planets were still around, the brilliant rays of light were still around. When he looked at them, it was as if he was looking at the things from the past, and for a moment, he could not differentiate the time.

It was just like a person's hair. The strands could dance about in the air, and when their intersected with each other, they might seem similar, but they would be different, just like how the years were different now.

Su Ming looked at the galaxy. He did not intentionally try to appear ancient, but as he recalled what had happened in Western Ring Nebula's foreign lands during the past one thousand years and an air of sentimentality rose within him, he could not help but have an air of ancientness surround him.

A world changing transformation could be said to have happened to Su Ming during those one thousand years. He had run into one of the greatest serendipities in his life, he shook off the control of Yin Death Region's wills over him, he expelled Di Tian's seal over him, obtained his Ecang clone, and he had a cultivation base of great completion in Heaven Cultivation Realm. He was only a hair away from World Plane Realm.

In fact, if he had a clone that could train his cultivation base at that moment, he would definitely be able to isolate himself and try reaching World Plane Realm, but alas, he did not have one.

His clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole had similarly obtained an incredibly great serendipity. He had risen from the initial stage of World Plane Realm to nearly the peak of the middle stage of World Plane Realm. Besides that, Su Ming had also obtained Divine Essence.

The overlapping shadows of the runic symbols that occasionally shone in his right eye would definitely shock those who saw them, and their minds would ponder over the strangeness within those runes.

This seemingly broken land due to the countless cracks that was Western Ring Nebula's foreign land was not at all different from how it was in the past. If it was not because Su Ming knew that one thousand years had passed, he would not have been able to differentiate just how much time had passed upon coming out.

It was quiet all around him. He could not see too much starlight, and neither could he see any cultivators. It was as if this place had become seawater that was nearly black in color.

"I have come out." Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the endless space in the galaxy above him. As he spoke flatly, for the first time, his gaze landed on the ancient bronze sword not too far away, and the people who could not see him.

Su Ming averted his gaze and placed his hands behind his back. Then, he walked forward. With one step, he moved out of the area leading to the foreign land, and with another, he closed in on the ancient bronze… before he moved past it coolly.

Su Ming did not want to kill these three people. After all, if any deaths occurred, he would alert the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over the land. That was why he ignored them.

Yet at the instant Su Ming moved past the ancient bronze sword, the ancient and simple looking green sword placed on Kong Huan's knees as he meditated in a seated position suddenly let out a sword whistle.

It was faint, trembling somewhat. At the instant it appeared, Kong Huan's eyes flew open. The two True Guards behind him were stunned as well, and they looked towards Kong Huan's sword at the same time.

This was the first time they heard the sword whistle over the hundred something years they kept a lookout over this place. This was also the first time Kong Huan heard the sword whistle over the past one thousand years he had been monitoring this place.

Kong Huan's expression changed drastically. He instantly stood up and looked around him. In his mind, the words from Lord Vice General one thousand years ago when he gave Kong Huan the sword rang out.

"This sword is known as Verdant Flames. Take it with you. When it lets out a sword whistle, it will be the day the existence I have been waiting for all this while have appeared. I will grant you this sword to keep a lookout over the foreign land.

"Once the sword lets out its whistle, immediately let go of it!"

It was these words that caused Kong Huan to come to this place and sit down cross-legged on the ancient bronze sword without lifting his hands off the green sword.

By now, he had waited for one thousand years. At the instant the sword let out a sword whistle and Kong Huan got up to look around him, he let go of the sword he had placed his hands without any hesitation.

At the instant he let go, green flames appeared on the sword. With a bang, that sword turned into a green arc and charged into the space, charging to the spot where Su Ming was with a loud whistle.

Su Ming turned around, and his gaze landed on the green arc that was coming towards him. A wave of sword aura charged swiftly at his waist, and Su Ming could not help but chuckle.

'It's rare to see such an intelligent sword, but by the looks of it, it doesn't seem to have noticed me. Instead…' Su Ming lowered his head to cast a glance at his waist. There was… a storage bag there.

Su Ming shook his head. At the instant the green arc came towards him, he lifted his right hand and pointed forward. With it, the shadows of runic symbols immediately appeared in his right eye. As they gathered on his finger, the tip of his finger tapped the green arc.

Boom!

A loud bang shook the entire area. The green sword shook and fell back. The blade melted at that instant and turned into two green wisps. One of them charged towards the center of Kong Huan's brows, while the other charged into space with an indescribable speed, intending to flee.

This scene caused the people on the ancient bronze sword to immediately widen their eyes. Their expressions changed. Right before their eyes, they saw the green sword stabbing an empty spot in space, but when a booming sound rang into the air, the green sword fell back and melted into two green wisps. During that instant, they saw a wave of ripples that looked like those that would appear on flowing water in the space before them. A figure with a tall and straight back gradually appeared from those ripples.

He was a young man with long, gray hair, a long robe with dark colors, and whose handsome face had an air of ancientness. Runic symbols shone in his right eye, giving all those who saw it a bizarre feeling.

"Mo Su!"

"You're Mo Su!"

The middle-aged man and the old man immediately recognized Su Ming, and surprised delight appeared in their eyes. After all, Mo Su's bounty remained ripe for picking to this date. True Guards did not care about freedom, but they longed dearly for the Enchanted Treasure containing a hint of Solar Kalpa's presence.

"I originally didn't want to make things hard for you."

Su Ming lifted his head to look at the space above him. The overlapping shadows of the runic symbols in his right eye shone, and ten thousand runic symbols appeared with a bang. They spread out and surrounded the entire area. Each of the runic symbols was shining, and the entire area froze as if it had been sealed.

The green wisp that had charged out into space to flee was also caught within the runic symbols formed by Divine Essence. It was struggling, wishing to escape…

"Since you discovered me… then you can become my tributes," Su Ming said flatly. He took a step forward. At the instant he did so, he appeared above the ancient bronze sword, clenched his right fist, and punched it.

The middle-aged man in the middle stage of World Plane Realm did not even have time to check Su Ming's level of cultivation when a sense of danger rose within him. He let out an enraged shout, then formed a seal with his hands. An armor manifested on his body, and a gigantic runic picture appeared before him. As it spun, it charged towards Su Ming.

Boom!

Su Ming's fist landed on the runic picture, and it immediately shattered to pieces. In shock, the man retreated, but before he could move far away, Su Ming's punch had already landed on his chest.

He coughed up blood, and his armor shattered. A loud bang rang out in the man's heart, and all his bones were almost shattered. As he coughed up huge mouthfuls of blood, disbelief appeared on his face.

'Later stage of World Plane Realm!' His body was instantly flung away by a great force to land within the crack in the area of the foreign land. He disappeared within an instant, sucked inside.

"The next is you." Su Ming's expression remained as calm as before. When he turned around, he threw his fist in the direction of the old man who was rapidly retreating and whose face was filled with shock.

Booming sounds echoed in the air. The punch that was fused with Divine Essence could temporarily bring forth the power of the later stage of World Plane Realm and completely suppress those in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. Unless the old man had a Kalpa Treasure and the same type of serendipity as Su Ming… then there was absolutely no way he could fight against it.

The old man coughed up blood, and banging sounds rang out nonstop in his body. As his face turned pale, his body was flung back by a great force, and he landed in one of the cracks leading to the foreign land before disappearing without a trace.

Chapter 844: Green Feather

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was quiet all around. Kong Huan's body trembled as he looked at Su Ming with fear. The three hundred cultivators in black armor on the ancient bronze armor did not dare to get closer to him at that moment.

Their bodies might have seemed to be full of a still presence, but their minds were normal. They had practiced the same skill, so they possessed the same presence. This sort of skill could make their hearts almost stop and make them cold and unfeeling.

However… the instant Su Ming's Divine Essence Runic Symbols covered the entire area, a great, mighty pressure instantly descended on their bodies. That mighty pressure crushed their cold attitude, and fear took form within them.

It was especially so when he had, with one punch, nearly killed the middle-aged man, and with another, the old man in white nearly died. Su Ming had clearly done this intentionally, or else, the both of them would have definitely died.

Those in the later stage of World Plane Realm could suppress all the cultivators beneath their level. This sort of strength brought despair to the hearts of all the people in the area.

Space had been sealed off, and even the ancient bronze sword was covered in runic symbols. Due to it, the sword lost its usefulness and could no longer be controlled. What lay before these cultivators seemed to be only the path to death.

"Either you die or you step into the foreign land," Su Ming said flatly. He swept his gaze across the three hundred cultivators in black armor. All those who met his gaze felt their hearts tremble, and they instinctively lowered their heads.

There were a few who gritted their teeth after a moment of hesitation and charged into the cracks leading to the foreign land with a single move. With someone taking the lead, the others turned into long arcs under the threat of death looming over their heads. In the span of a breath, the three hundred people in black armor went through the cracks leading to the foreign lands and disappeared without a trace.

Su Ming and Kong Huan were the only ones left in this place. Kong Huan, who had one of the green wisps fused into the center of his brows, had a ferocious look. Veins popped up on his face, but the terror in his eyes was even more prominent. However, he could not control himself and let out a low roar.

As he roared, a green mark gradually appeared at the center of his brows. That mark looked like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, and the image of a gigantic peacock manifested behind him as the space there distorted.

The peacock could not be seen clearly and looked as if it was incredibly weak, but at the instant it manifested, Kong Huan's power rapidly rose. However, as it rose, his face turned from that of a teenage boy to that of a middle-aged man, then he rapidly changed into an old man. His hair also transformed from black to gray before eventually turning white.

It was as if his life was being burned and turned into the nutrients for the explosive increase in his power, becoming the source of energy for the peacock. Red filled his eyes, and there was even a hint of madness within them. It was a madness that no longer possessed any form of intelligence.

Su Ming watched Kong Huan's transformation quietly. He had a question lying in his heart. The green sword might not have discovered him just now, but had instead… discovered his storage bag.

Perhaps more accurately speaking, it had discovered some form of living creature or item in his storage bag.

'Could it be..?' An answer rose in Su Ming's mind, and sadness showed up in his eyes.

He was never a kind and generous person to begin with. The four Great True Worlds chased after his life all those years ago and the rewards they promised had forced him into the foreign land. Su Ming… had sworn in the past that he would repay them back by several fold for all that was done to him.

However… he still had more important things to do. They were even more important than taking revenge on the four Great True Worlds, much more important, which was why he had previously decided to ignore Kong Huan and the other two.

Su Ming gently touched the storage bag. Within it was the slumbering bald crane.

It… was slowly dispersing, as if this was a transformation that could not be reversed. This transformation had not been very clear in the foreign land, but once he walked out of there, the process had become much faster.

Su Ming did not know the reason for this, but he knew that if the bald crane had not been there to help him, it would not have been reduced to this state. If it was not to help him succeed in his Possession, the bald crane wouldn't have burnt its soul and been left in a near death state.

In truth, Su Ming did not even dare to take the bald crane out of his storage bag. He was worried… that at the instant he brought it out, it would instantly disappear, and from then on, the bald crane would no longer exist in the universe. The bald crane that loved money as much as it loved its own life but had accompanied Su Ming to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and the one that possessed a great deal of secrets would no longer be around.

'Looks like there are also different goals among the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds. Some of them are after me, and some… are after it.'

The sadness in Su Ming's eyes was replaced by killing intent. He had always been a person who was fiercely protective of those close to him. At that moment, as he looked at Kong Huan, Su Ming let out a cold harrumph.

At that moment, Kong Huan lifted his head and roared. He had completely lost his intelligence. When he opened his mouth, a large amount of saliva flowed down the corners of his lips. He came charging towards Su Ming while roaring, and his arrival was like that of a crazed peacock.

"Your level of cultivation rose to nearly the peak of the middle stage of World Plane Realm… but you're still lacking." Su Ming lifted his right hand and swung it before himself. With it, the ten thousand runic symbols around him immediately charged over from all directions at Kong Huan. While the other was still several hundreds of feet away, the symbols completely filled the entire area around him, turning into an existence that was akin to a grave.

"I will form a script under the ground, and that will… become a grave."

Boom!

The grave formed by runic symbols buried Kong Huan. At the moment they turned into a stone monument and scattered, a green wisp flew out, but before it could fly too far away, it was seized by Su Ming. Another green wisp also appeared in his palm. That green wisp was the one that had tried to flee into the distance just now, but had been blocked by Su Ming's runic symbols and had been seized by him.

The two green wisps struggled in Su Ming's hand as if they wanted to fly out, but could not escape from the restrictions placed on them by the Divine Essence Runic Symbols around them. Su Ming looked at the two green wisps with a glint in his eyes, and pulled his fingers into a fist.

Banging sounds came from his palm, and when Su Ming unfurled his fist and straightened his palm, the green wisps were gone. Only a green feather remained. A faint light spread out from it. There was a dried speck of blood on the feather, and it was exuding an ancient presence.

At the instant Su Ming noticed this presence, his heart trembled.

'This is… the bald crane's presence!' A crease gradually appeared between Su Ming's brows, and a pensive look appeared on his face.

"Just what is the goal of the person who made Kong Huan bring the feather to this place? One of the two green wisps was clearly supposed to send a message. Since I stopped it, that person should not learn about what happened here within a short period of time.

"But what is this person thinking about? If he is thinking about harming the bald crane, why did they hand me this feather? If that person is thinking of returning it, why attack me?" Su Ming fell silent.

After a moment, his right eye shone, and each of the runic symbols that contain the power of Divine Essence enveloped his body. Within an instant, they fused into his skin and entered his body.

Su Ming closed his eyes. After a moment, there was no longer any light around him, and even his presence disappeared, as if he had vanished from the galaxy.

However, the situation in his body right then was akin to a raging sea. All the runic symbols in him were like a giant net. As it contracted and expanded swiftly, Su Ming's body seemed to have turned into a sea, and Divine Essence Runic Symbols were a huge net that covered the entire place.

It was contracting and expanding in his body, like how an ordinary fisherman would hunt for fish. However, Su Ming was not catching fish… but memories.

Those memories were the scenes from when he was in Crimson Flame Planet.

'Let the Divine Essence Runic Symbols be seals… and seal my memories within Crimson Flame Planet!' As Su Ming opened and closed his eyes, the runic symbols in his body immediately turned into a seal, sealing up all of his memories from Crimson Flame Planet layer by layer.

At the instant his memories were sealed, a dark light shone in Su Ming's eyes. He could sense that an invisible thread was broken at the moment his memories were sealed.

'The source of the reason behind why the four Great True Worlds could find me all those years ago was because they had used someone's memories from Crimson Flame Planet and turned it into those Blood Identification Pearls after executing a mysterious divine ability.

'I could not understand it in the past and could not grasp the concept clearly, but now, with my Divine Essence… the Blood Identification Pearl will temporarily lose its effect. If I wanted to truly make it lose its effect, then I would need to wipe off the memories of that person from Crimson Flame Planet.

'If I did that, the four Great True Worlds would not be able to know my whereabouts, and would not be able to know… that I've come out of Western Ring Nebula's foreign land.'

When Su Ming walked out of the land with the hundred thousand stone monuments, he had cast this Sealing Art on himself and wiped off his traces. Now that he had come out, he had executed it once again, forming a complete seal, and his mind was set completely at ease.

Once he finished doing all this, Su Ming lowered his head and looked at his storage bag. After a moment, a resolute look appeared on his face. He lifted his right hand to reveal the totem that the Duke of Crimson Flame had turned into on his arm, then sent his power to rush into it.

The totem on his right arm immediately started shining. As it shone with a dark light, it slowly disappeared from Su Ming's arm, and the Duke of Crimson Flame's body appeared out of thin air. As if the old man was opening his eyes for the first time from a deep slumber that lasted for one thousand years, he looked at Su Ming, dazed.

However, after several breaths, that dazed expression turned into shock. The Duke of Crimson Flame looked at Su Ming, dumbfounded. He had noticed that the number of disasters from the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole within Su Ming's body had reached five!

His level of cultivation had also reached a level that was almost the peak of the middle stage of World Plane Realm. This was still nothing, however. Most importantly, he sensed a strong, threatening presence from Su Ming's body. This sense of danger came from a presence that dominated over all forms of life. It might still be weak, but even so, the Duke of Crimson Flame was apprehensive. If Su Ming could grow, then perhaps with just one thought, the Duke of Crimson Flame would be reduced to ashes. This feeling caused his heart to tremble.

However, he was still wrong. If the presence of Divine Essence within Su Ming's body truly grew, then with just one thought, the Duke of Crimson Flame would not be the only one who would turn into ashes… the entire universe would turn into ashes as well.

This was what it meant to be able to destroy the heavens with one thought.

"You… just how much time has passed?" The Duke of Crimson Flame was, after all, an old monster that had lived for countless years. He might be shocked, but the very first question he threw out hit straight on the point.

If Su Ming told him that one hundred thousand years or even more time had passed, then he would have obtained all his answers. On the other hand, if only several hundreds or thousands of years had passed, then it would definitely mean that Su Ming had obtained an unimaginably great serendipity during this period of time.

"I'll tell you about this later, senior. Now, please answer me something first. Just what are the origins of the bald crane?"

Chapter 845: The Crane That Commits All Sorts of Crimes Possible

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Duke of Crimson Flame was momentarily stunned. When he looked around, he did not find any traces of the bald crane, and when he saw the solemn look on Su Ming's face, a guess instantly formed in his heart.

After a moment of hesitation, he said hesitantly, "I don't know where it truly comes from, either, but I did find a hint of familiarity on its body. It's… very similar to a certain existence during my era."

"I wish to hear more about it," Su Ming said as he looked at the Duke of Crimson Flame.

"I told you before that there are five Great True Worlds in this universe, and within each True World is a Kalpa Lord. They are the Sovereigns of a True World, just like Dao Chen from True Morning Dao World, Yin Sheng from True Sacred Yin World, and the Abyss Builders' Sovereign from the fifth True World.

"They are Kalpa Lords, and they are at the Realm where they can control fate, lives, and death.

"After them are the five True Progenitors of the five True Great Words. These five people's level of cultivation is even more shocking. They seem to have surpassed the level of Kalpa Lords. In fact, their existences can interfere with some of the operations of the five Great True Worlds.

"It's as if they are the rules of the five Great True Worlds itself, and they can turn into all sorts of existences. Very few people can know who they truly are.

"They are a part of legends," the Duke of Crimson Flame mumbled as he spoke of the secrets ages ago.

"Only our Sovereign of the five True Worlds within the five Great True World had his level of cultivation surpass that of the True Progenitor. The other Kalpa Lords from the four Great True Worlds cannot do this.

"I don't know who the other True Progenitors from the other True Worlds are, but the True Progenitor from the fifth True World had only ever adopted one single appearance over the years. His name… was Lu Ya.

"He called himself a Daoist, and his origins were a mystery.

"But… the universe is huge, and there are millions of races within it. It's impossible for there to only be ten Kalpa Lords and True Progenitors who are the strongest in the universe. Within each True World, there were other old monsters whose levels of cultivation were close to theirs, and there were some who were even stronger than them. These people… are also part of legends.

"Some of them moved about alone, and some of them ha huge races behind them acting as their support. Some… were rumored to be from the vast galaxy beyond the five Great True Worlds.

"Among the legends of the fifth True World, there is one about a huge crane. This crane always introduced itself as Hei Mo, and it was incredibly sly as well as ruthless. It loved killing and plundering, and wherever it went, all the sects would be destroyed and all medicinal cores taken away.

"It seemed to only be interested in medicinal cores. If one didn't resist, they would be fine, but if they resisted, they would bring upon themselves a disaster.

"This crane was skilled in Transformation Arts. In this aspect, it was incredibly similar to our True Progenitor. No one knew where it came from, but it was a famous character in the fifth True World.

"It had done practically every despicable thing in the book. It poked fun of all sorts of old monsters, snatched people's medicinal cores, changed its appearance so that no one could fend against it, causing all the cranes in the fifth True World to almost be massacred for a time being.

"Nothing seemed to be of much use against this crane. It seemed to have been born with a talent that could break all Runes, and Sealing Arts were also of no effect against it.

"Its bad name could even make a huge sect migrate and turn a galaxy into dust… It had only failed twice in its life. The first was when it went to the Abyss Builders' homeland and was defeated by the Sovereign. However, it was only injured at that time, and since the Sovereign didn't chase after it, it successfully escaped.

"The second time was when… it stole the True Progenitor Lu Ya's medicinal cores. Daoist Lu Ya chased after it for a thousand years, but no one knows how this ended. Anyway, this is just what people said, very few know precisely what had happened back then." When the Duke of Crimson Flame spoke up to that point, he cast Su Ming a strange look.

There was also a rather strange expression on Su Ming's face. He did not even need to verify to be almost certain that the bald crane was indeed that crane which committed all sorts of heinous crimes and snatched medicinal cores as spoken in the legends within the fifth True World.

"The one… beside you fulfills certain characteristics of that crane. It's greedy, can disregard Runes, is skilled in transformation, and is also a crane. However, what left me uncertain and unable to say for sure was that the crane in the legends of the fifth True World was only interested in medicinal cores. It would not even glance at crystals...

"But… the obsession and desire of the one beside you towards crystals has already reached a state that cannot be described with words, that's why I can't be certain whether it is the same crane as the one in the past!" the Duke of Crimson Flame said with a wry laugh.

"If you hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have told you what I've just said, because while I would be safe if the crane is not the same one as the one in the past, if it was, then I remember that the crane was the type that would seek revenge even for the smallest grievance, and it was a creature that held onto grudges.

"Even if it's just a small matter, it would remember it for life." The Duke of Crimson Flame continued laughing wryly, looking as if he had no way out of this situation.

At that moment, Su Ming was not just almost certain, he was almost absolutely certain that the bald crane was the one from the legend the Duke of Crimson Flame had just told. That personality which held onto grudges was one of which Su Ming had a deep impression.

Once he remembered how the purple Ecang had mentioned that the bald crane had been injured heavily thrice, it became clear to him that during the era the Duke of Crimson Flame had spoken of, it had needed to recover because of its grave injuries, that was why it had robbed medicinal cores in such a frenzy.

However, Su Ming still had a question in mind. Just what thing could make the bald crane shift its obsession from medicinal cores to crystals? This was something Su Ming could not figure out no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps only when the bald crane itself would be able to understand such a drastic shift in obsession once its memories returned.

'What the Duke of Crimson Flame knows is just a part of the bald crane's life. After all, it's a life form that is as ancient as Ecang itself.' After a moment of pensive silence, Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the Duke of Crimson Flame.

"Er… it even…" The Duke of Crimson Flame hesitated for a moment, and once he thought about how much he had said, he decided that he would tell Su Ming everything, which was why he gritted his teeth and continued.

"I've also heard of a rumor, but I don't know whether it's true or false. It said… that it was also very perverted. There were quite a number of female cultivators in the fifth True World in the past who were associated with it… Every single time they mentioned it, they would grind their teeth in anger, and they would look as if they badly wanted to kill it with their own hands… and I also met a female cultivator who clearly looked very embarrassed and enraged when she mentioned it, as if it did something that would make someone boil in anger."

Once he Duke of Crimson Flame finished speaking, Su Ming was momentarily stunned. This was something he had never seen on the bald crane before.

"Then do you know any place where I can find some clues in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence? Perhaps I should reword this… if it's injured badly and is near death, is there any way for me to heal it?"

A determined look appeared on Su Ming's face. It did not matter to him what sort of background the bald crane had or how many people held grudges against it. Since it had fallen unconscious and was in a state of near death because of him, then he would do everything he could to save it.

"About that…" The Duke of Crimson Flame had some speculations a moment ago, and when he heard Su Ming's words, he became even more certain that an accident had fallen upon the bald crane. A contemplative look appeared on his face, but after a long while, he shook his head.

"My level of cultivation was not the same in the past, I really don't know what sort of method could save it… It's a soul right now, and normal medicinal cores won't be able to heal it. If we can find True Progenitor Lu Yan, then perhaps with his skills with medicinal cores, he could help it… but this is the same as finding a needle in a haystack, and we don't even know whether True Progenitor Lu Ya is still alive."

The Duke of Crimson Flame sighed. Just as he was shaking his head, a glint suddenly appeared in his eyes, as if he had thought of something.

"It introduces itself as Hei Mo… I remember now. I heard some people mention a theory in the fifth True World in the past. They said that there is a high possibility that it's not a creature from the fifth True World, but something that came from Divine Essence Star Ocean." The Duke of Crimson Flame immediately looked towards Su Ming.

"Are you saying… Black Ink Planet [1]?" Su Ming's eyes sparkled.

"Hei Mo, Black Ink Planet, perhaps there is some connection between the two, but I can't be certain. You'll have to think about it yourself." The Duke of Crimson Flame nodded.

Su Ming closed his eyes. After a long while, he opened them, and resolve appeared within them. The bald crane knew Ecang, and this alone was enough to tell him many things. The possibility of it coming from Divine Essence Star Ocean was incredibly high, and because of it, there was a high possibility that Black Ink Planet had some form of connection with the bald crane.

'Black Ink Planet has existed for a long time, and unless someone changed the planet's name during the time before history was even recorded to turn this into a trap against the bald crane, then there is definitely some form of clue lying about it in this sort of coincidence.'

Su Ming lowered his head to look at the green feather on his palm. As he looked at the blood on it and felt the familiar presence that belonged to the bald crane from that feather, the scenes of how he met it up to the moment it burned its soul for him flashed through his mind.

He could even seem to hear the faint voice of the bald crane smugly referring to itself as Grandpa Crane.

'There are some things that cannot be viewed with rationale. Even if I know it's dangerous, I still… have to do it.

'Since you burned your soul to help me, then… what harm is there if I step into danger for you?!

'I originally wouldn't have been able to obtain this feather. If it weren't for the Divine Essence Runic Symbols around me, even if I managed to kill Kong Huan, I would have only been able to obtain one of the green wisps. It would have been difficult for me to get both and turn them into this feather.

'I'll… take this risk. Bald crane, even if the feather turns out to be a problem, let's take this risk!

'If you can recover slightly after you absorb this feather, then even if it's the dragon's lair, I will go there for you.

'If… we lose this bet, then I promise you that once the cultivation of my Divine Essence reaches completion, I will destroy the four Great True Worlds and have them… be buried with you!'

Su Ming gritted his teeth and sent the green feather in his hand into the storage bag. At the instant his hand touched the storage bag… his hand shook lightly, and that light shiver was a symbol of how nervous Su Ming was in his heart.

At the instant the green feather went into the storage bag, an endless amount of green light immediately shone from within. At the same time, the sleeping bald crane's soul started shining with a brilliant black light, as if it was fighting against that green light.

It was also during this moment that the green feather in the light turned into a green peacock. With ferociousness and madness, as well as a hint of intelligence that appeared in its eyes, it charged towards the bald crane. As the black light spread out from the bald crane, it turned into a crane that had its eyes shut, and as if it was out of pure instinct, it charged towards the incoming green peacock.

At the instant both sides closed in on each other, a sparkle appeared in Su Ming's right eye, and the Divine Essence Runic Symbols swiftly took form. They surged into the storage bag and enveloped the green peacock.

"I knew it, there was trouble in it!"

Su Ming let out a cold harrumph, and the Divine Essence Runic Symbols exploded on the green peacock with loud boom. Within an instant, they wiped off the intelligence within the green peacock's eyes, causing a shrill screech to reverberate in space.

"Divine Essence… That's impossible!"

As screeches of pain rang out, the green peacock's eyes became unfocused, and its body looked as if it was about to scatter away. The bald crane, which had its eyes shut, pounced on it abruptly, and the two fused together instantly. The bald crane still had its eyes shut and continued to be in deep sleep, but the dissemination of its body immediately became much slower.

Though faint, the bald crane also seemed slightly different from before, as if its soul had recovered slightly.

"It's effective!" Su Ming's eyes shone with a brilliant light.

Translator's Notes:

1. Hei Mo and Black Ink Planet: Hei Mo is what the past bald crane in the age of the fifth True World introduced itself as, and it is the pinyin and transliterated version of 黑墨 (hei1 mo4), while Black Ink is the translated version of those two characters.

Chapter 846: Ecang Clone, Appear!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Since it's effective, then… bald crane, you've done far too many things for me, today… I'll help you," Su Ming mumbled under his breath as he stood in the area beyond Western Ring Nebula's foreign land. As he did so, a determined look appeared in his eyes. He did not choose to search for the connection between the bald crane and Black Ink Planet.

After all, while it might seem certain that there was a connection between them, in truth, it might also be a coincidence, and the journey to the planet was long. Unless he absolutely had to, Su Ming would not choose to go there.

Besides, there was another path that led to the bald crane's recovery laid out before him, and that was to search for the person who gave Kong Huan that feather. It did not matter what sort of scheme that person was plotting. Su Ming just needed to find the person, crush thet scheme, and take back what belonged to the bald crane.

This path was incredibly dangerous, because the defenses and the number of powerful warriors within the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over the barren lands would continuously serve as a blockage in Su Ming's path.

Besides, there would definitely be some old monsters among the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds. This could be seen by the presence of the two powerful warriors who were half a step away from Solar Kalpa Realm among those who came after Su Ming's life all those years ago.

'I'll have to make this quick and not drag the fight out. I'll barge in at the fastest speed possible, find that person, and snatch away what I need. As long as I can do everything at the fastest speed possible… then there is a possibility that I will succeed in this matter.'

The Duke of Crimson Flame saw the light in Su Ming's eyes, and he also saw the madness within him. He had originally thought that Su Ming was hesitating on whether he would go to Black Ink Planet, but at that moment, Su Ming swiftly closed his eyes.

At the instant he did so, his Ecang clone slowly opened his eyes.

Right when he did so, a dense power of Divine Essence erupted from within him. He stood up slowly and took a step into space.

With one step, the galaxy roared. With another, the world of the one hundred thousand stone monuments looked as if it was about to shatter. The hundreds of people in the purple stone monuments, including the cultivators in black armor who were forced into the land by Su Ming, fell unconscious.

The purple light on their stone monuments became dull, and in the end, not a hint of light could be found on them anymore, as if all of it had been sucked away during that instant.

He took another step, and a figure suddenly appeared in Sinful Barren Lands, in the area beyond Western Ring Nebula's foreign land. That figure was dressed in purple and had long hair. His appearance was similar to Su Ming's, but he looked even more ancient. He stood there quietly, and at the instant he appeared, a large area within Western Ring Nebula rumbled.

This was a rumbling sound that came out of nowhere, and it was a sound that caused the galaxy to tremble. An innumerable amount of cracks appeared in the galaxy, and as that rumbling rang in space, the laws and rules in Western Ring Nebula looked as if they had descended into a disorderly state during that instant and got entangled with each other.

The planets shone, the meteors stopped moving, starlight was distorted, and an endless amount of ripples spread out, causing the entire Western Ring Nebula to descend into huge chaos.

It was as if the appearance of Su Ming's Ecang clone made this galaxy wary, and it became greatly averse to his presence. It was as if the galaxy had a will, and at that moment, it was seething in rage but was also in a state of anxiety as well.

White lightning descended with loud booms from space and instantly filled the area around Su Ming's Ecang clone. As it spread out violently in all directions, this large area within the galaxy instantly turned into a lake of lightning.

That lightning was like a prison, and seemed to have been born from the galaxy to prevent Su Ming's Ecang clone from moving out.

All of this was completely disregarded by Su Ming's clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows whole. He still had his eyes closed, but in front of him, the Duke of Crimson Flame's expression changed in such a drastic manner that had never been seen before. He instinctively retreated several thousands of feet backwards and stared at the purple figure that appeared within the white lake of lightning with a dumbfounded expression. A wave of respect born of extreme terror rose uncontrollably from his soul. His body trembled, and even his soul seemed as if it was about to collapse.

'Who… Who… is this?! This strength, this is… this is…'

The Duke of Crimson Flame looked as if his mind had become a muddled mess. Disbelieving shock appeared on his face. He saw how the laws and rules of the galaxy filled the area, and saw how the galaxy was greatly averse towards this person. He could not imagine just how strong a person who was repulsed by the galaxy could be. This was a strength that made a galaxy wary!

"You're just a broken galaxy. How dare you try to prevent me from going out?" The purple hair of Su Ming's Ecang clone danced in space. As he spoke flatly, he lifted his right hand and swung forward.

With it, all the white lightning around him turned purple right before everyone's eyes. In the blink of an eye, this place… became a purple lake of lightning.

What was more, right at that moment, a will that made the Duke of Crimson Flame suffocate erupted from the purple figure whose face he could not see clearly. As that will swept outwards, it was as if all the spots where the will passed through in the galaxy would no longer belong to the galaxy… but would be in this person's control.

The Duke of Crimson Flame could vaguely see all the laws and rules in the galaxy where this person's will touched forcefully wiped off and replaced by new laws and rules.

He also saw the resistance of the galaxy turn into a power that restricts others, as if it was trying to stop this person's will from spreading out. This was no longer something a cultivator could do. It was akin to a fight between a galaxy against galaxy, a scuffle between a cosmos against another cosmos.

The Duke of Crimson Flame's jaw fell slack in shock as he mumbled, "Just who… is this..?"

This sort of divine ability had already surpassed the Duke of Crimson Flame's imagination. Only one thought was in his mind - to flee. He shouted at Su Ming's clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole, and just as he was about to take it away, he shuddered, because the will that terrified him had already enveloped Su Ming's clone.

At that instant, a faint voice echoed in the air.

"Broken galaxy, you can destroy all manner of lives, but you cannot destroy me, because you and I are the same sort of existence." At the instant these words were spoken, the Duke of Crimson Flame saw a scene that he would never forget in his life, a scene that shocked him for all eternity.

Right then, he saw a gigantic… purple tree that towered into the heavens and was so big that it was difficult to describe its size appearing behind that blurry purple figure whose face he could not see clearly!

That tree used the galaxy as the earth it planted its roots in and as its nutrients. There was also a sound that came from within it, which sounded like a heartbeat. With each thump, the galaxy would tremble. At the moment the tree appeared, it occupied an area so wide that its end could not be seen, causing the laws and rules within Western Ring Nebula to be on the verge of crumbling to pieces.

His will spread out once again, and with a bang, it enveloped the area where the Duke of Crimson Flame was. Despair filled him, but he did not sense death coming towards him, which momentarily took him aback.

Not only did not he not sense death, instead, in that will, he found a hint of familiarity which pushed him into a state of disbelief.

"Broken galaxy, you cannot stop me, and neither can you destroy me… Today, I came out from my homeland not to destroy you, but to borrow one hundred thousand lis of your galaxy. Do not… try to stop me."

At the instant these words were spoken, the purple lightning around Su Ming's Ecang clone spread out, and in the blink of an eye, it covered the entire area where Su Ming's will was, and it was… a galaxy that stretched out to one hundred thousand lis.

One hundred thousand lis of a galaxy filled with purple lightning became a galaxy that belonged to Su Ming's Ecang clone!

This region of the galaxy was not big and could not compare to the galaxy which belonged to the purple Ecang in its homeland within the foreign lands. However, this was the world outside, not the foreign land. There was a will from the universe here, and he had already surpassed the limits of a cultivator by being able to do this.

As Su Ming's Ecang clone spoke, the Duke of Crimson Flame looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. The repulsion from Western Ring Nebula… disappeared. It most likely hadn't disappeared completely and was still monitoring him, but this was a form of compromise, and it meant that… this purple figure was on equal grounds with the galaxy.

The Duke of Crimson Flame then saw a sight that left his mind blank. He saw Su Ming, which was Su Ming's clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole, opening his eyes and slowly walking towards the purple figure before they… gradually fused together.

This was not the Abyss Builders' fusion, but a form of incorporation.

If the Duke of Crimson Flame still did not understand what was going on during that moment, then he would have wasted all his years of life. However, he was still in a state of disbelief. With a dumbfounded look, he watched the purple Su Ming walk towards him to stand before him. At the moment he Duke of Crimson Flame's gaze met the Ecang clone's, even his soul began trembling, and he slowly lowered his head to wrap his fist in his palm and bow to Su Ming.

He did not manage to finish that bow, because the mighty pressure gathered around him had instantaneously vanished.

"Senior, you don't have to do this. This is the first time this clone of mine came out, and I still can't really control him properly. I've offended you greatly just now, please don't take it to heart," Su Ming said calmly as he looked at the Duke of Crimson Flame.

He might have said these words, but the Duke of Crimson Flame's shock would not disappear due to a single sentence. He looked at Su Ming in a daze, and for the first time… a strong wave of respect rose within him. This form of respect was something he had never felt for Su Ming before, and the connection he formed with Su Ming due to his desire to use him from before also changed instantly.

Forget now, even when he was at the peak of his condition in the past, he would still not have dared to disrespect this sort of person and existence. In fact, he had a feeling that Su Ming… might be the new Sovereign who could make their fifth True World prosper!

Once this thought sprouted in his head, it immediately started growing rapidly in his soul, causing respect and excitement to appear on his face. He took a few steps back and bowed to Su Ming once again.

"I do not deserve to be referred to as senior. I had approached you with the intention of using you previously, please forgive me. Young master, from now on, I will use all my strength to help you restore the glory of the fifth True World!" The Duke of Crimson Flame bowed deeply, revealing all the sincerity in his heart. It was also during this moment that he chose to truly treat Su Ming as his young master and never betray him in his life.

"But allow me to say this, young master. This clone of yours might be powerful and able to fight against the galaxy… but there are some old monsters in this world who can still kill you. Please… don't let this clone of yours come out. It would be better if you had it stay in the foreign lands," the Duke of Crimson Flame said excitedly.

"I know, but there are some things that even though I know are dangerous… I will still have to do." Su Ming shook his head, and in his mind, the image of the bald crane's smug look appeared. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. "Let's go. We will… head to the main camp of the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over this place!"

A freezing glare appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He took a step into space, and within an instant, the purple lightning in the galaxy let out thunderous booms. Like a sea of lightning, he swept through the galaxy to charge swiftly into the distance.

Wherever he went, the galaxy would tremble, and all those who saw were shocked and amazed.

Chapter 847: Space Sealing Rune Falls

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming predicted that there would definitely be some old monsters among the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout on the barren lands. These people might rarely venture out, but if an enemy barged into the main camp stationed in the barren lands, then they would surely appear at the fastest speed they could muster.

Su Ming was not conceited enough to think that he could fight against those old monsters. He knew that while his Ecang clone could fight against galaxies, that was because of Divine Essence and because life forms like Ecang were very similar to the universe.

It could be said that such life forms were the same type of existence as the universe. However… his clone was still weak and incomplete, that was why… even if the universe could not destroy him, there would be some cultivators in the universe who could do it.

'The forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over the barren lands are divided into four regions. Each of them corresponds with one of the four Great Galaxies, which include Western Ring Nebula… Behind the four regions is an endless cosmos. In its depths… is a vortex formed of planets. That place… is the spot where the main camp of the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds is located.'

The scenes of what he'd seen about the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds when he used the Divinity Incarceration Rune all those years ago when the bald crane was still awake resurfaced in his mind.

'I only have one chance. I can only barge in from one of the regions and step into the main camp.' The purple lightning rumbled in the galaxy. Su Ming remained cool and unexcited within it as his body floated in space. The lightning under his feet was tumbling about as if in seawater and brought his body to charge forward with a speed that was akin to shifting.

'The forces keeping a lookout over Western Ring Nebula are from True Sacred Yin World. Most of the True Guards who came after my life all those years ago were from True Sacred Yin World. Ze Long Shen, Li Huo, and Ji Yun Hai were also among them.

'It won't be difficult for me to learn of the identity of the Lord Vice General Kong Huan mentioned earlier.'

Su Ming's purple hair fluttered in space, causing that near ancient presence on his face to give off a bizarre air that was difficult to describe with words. It was especially so for that pale face, which made him look as if he was terminally ill. Due to it, the bizarre air about him became even greater.

The overlapping shadows of the runic symbols in his right eye shone, and his left pupil turned into a vortex. There was purple lightning spreading out through that vortex, and it gradually looked as if a world was contained inside there. In that world, there were ten thousand purple stone monuments. There were hundreds of people unconscious under those stone monuments, and two of them were naturally the middle-aged and old True Guards whom Su Ming had forced into the foreign land.

As they remained unconscious, purple fog spread out from the stone monuments and seeped into their minds. Within an instant, their memories took shape in Su Ming's left eye.

'True Sacred Yin World… Taia Planet [1]... Vice General… Wu Li Zi!

'Wu Li Zi… Solar Kalpa Realm… has a green sun possessing five lights!

'Taia Planet… outside the main camp… one of the Radix Planets of the forces of power from True Sacred Yin World keeping a lookout over Western Ring Nebula!' Su Ming's eyes flashed, and when clarity returned to his eye, there was a freezing glare in his gaze.

'So she's not in the main camp? If that's the case… then the chance of success will be around eight-tenths.' Su Ming closed his eyes. As the purple lightning around him let out booming sounds, he became even faster. Within an instant, he had already traveled a great distance, but he was still charging towards the forces of power from True Sacred Yin World keeping a lookout over Western Ring Nebula.

He traveled so quickly that he looked like a ray of purple light that was slicing through the galaxy. Wherever he passed, the laws and rules in the galaxy would avoid him, as if they did not want to get close to him, a telling sign of how domineering was Su Ming's Ecang clone. This also allowed Su Ming's speed to reach a terrifying extent.

'Ninety breaths later, I will be able to see the Space Sealing Rune outside the spot where the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds are stationed.'

…..

Thirty breaths later, several cultivators saw a layer of purple covering the white sky above them as they remained in the endless cultivation planets of Western Ring Nebula. That layer of purple caused entire worlds to turn purple in an instant.

In the area where the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over the barren lands were stationed, a portion belonged to True Sacred Yin World. Within that area was a gigantic set of planets that formed a Radix Planet located slightly further away but not too far away from the main camp of the four Great True Worlds. The planets in the Radix Planet that were positioned like a distorted flight of stairs were shining with a brilliant light. In the set of Radix Planets at the spot which was similar to the spot where the heart of a human would be located was a green continent.

Green grass covered the continent, and there were plenty of lush, green mountains on it as well. An endless amount of intelligent beasts were playing around with each other. Wind blew past the grass, causing rustling sounds to reverberate in the air. Those sounds fused with the noise of the wind, forming a beautiful, sweet sound of nature that drifted through the area.

At the center of the meadow was a tent. Outside that tent were eight children playing around with each other. They wore happy expression, and their laughter echoed through through the area.

Within the tent was a woman in green. Only her back could be seen; she was facing a bronze mirror while combing her dark locks. As she sat there, her graceful body would cause people to think dirty thoughts.

…..

Another thirty breaths passed. The booming sounds from the purple lightning from Western Ring Nebula became even louder. The cultivators from the cultivation planets were no longer the only ones who could see the lightning, even the cultivators who were charging through the galaxy found their expressions changing drastically. All the light in the area turned into purple during that instant. They could vaguely sense that the laws around them were distorting and shrinking back.

This scene shook the hearts of all cultivators who saw it, and during that moment, they looked in unison towards the purple lightning that was like an ocean in the galaxy.

Beyond the Radix Planet called Taia was a young man in blue. He had the mark of a fire at the center of his brows, in place of a peach blossom that had been there before.

He had an indifferent expression on his face, and he looked as if there was a layer of invisible fire around him. As he strolled forward, he walked into the Radix Planet and appeared in the depths of it, where the green continent was. He stopped outside the tent.

"Greetings, Vice General Dao Ren." Almost the moment the young man appeared, the eight children who were playing around stopped laughing. They came to stand in front of the young man, then wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed towards him.

Once Dao Ren smiled faintly at the eight children, he directed a gentle gaze at the tent.

"Wu Li Zi, do you still refuse to see me?" he asked softly.

Not a single word came from within the tent. The woman in green acted as if she did not hear him and continued combing her black hair.

…..

When the ninetieth breath passed, Dao Ren shook his head with a bitter smile as he stood outside the tent. He turned around, intending to leave. Ever since he became True General Huo Zhu's messenger, Wu Li Zi had refused to see him even once throughout the last thousand years.

Even though he came here once every few days, he still could not improve their relationship.

Right at the instant Dao Ren turned around and was about to leave Taia Radix Planet, a booming sound so strong it shook the sky, the earth, the entire galaxy, and all the planets within it reverberated in the air. Taia Radix Planet trembled violently, and all the living creatures on the green continent were shocked and terrified. The eight children's expressions changed.

As that loud boom echoed in the air, a cold and apathetic voice spread through the area where the forces of power from True Sacred Yin World were stationed.

"There is a fifteenth-tier power attempting to break the Space Sealing Rune beyond Western Ring Nebula. Two thousand one hundred and thirty five years will be required to break the Rune with this power."

Once that voice spoke, all the cultivators within the planets in the area where the forces of power from True Sacred Yin World were located immediately sported changes in their expressions, and many people swiftly flew out of their cultivation planets.

Some of them even had a hint of shock on their faces as their hearts trembled due to the booming sound.

It was not that they had never met those lunatics from Sinful Barren Lands who tried to break the Space Sealing Rune… but since ancient times, there were only three times where the power exerted reached fifteenth-tier or surpassed that!

Right then… this was the fourth time!

Even though the previous three people from Sinful Barren Lands had failed in their attempts to break the Rune… but this was the first time a person's initial attack could bring forth a fifteenth-tier power!

"So what if it's a fifteenth-tier power? No one has ever successfully broken the Space Sealing Rune before, and it will be the same this time."

"What nerve, these criminals. How dare they try to attack the Space Sealing Rune? I remember reading the records that after those people three faile, True Guards from True Sacred Yin World moved out in great numbers and executed a wide-scale attack to kill them."

"Hmph, they're just asking for death!"

As the cold voice reverberated in the air within the Radix Planet, divine thoughts immediately echoed within the galaxy. Immediately, thousands of people charged forth. As those figures flashed past, they charged towards the Space Sealing Rune. They were the first wave of attackers, and they wanted to see just what fools would dare to offend the four Great True Worlds.

However, right as they flew out and had not even managed to close a distance of ten thousand feet, an even stronger boom suddenly shook the galaxy, which was left trembling. The violent echoes could make a person's ears ring. At the instant that sound left the cultivators in endless shock, the cold voice from the Radix Planet spoke once more.

"There is a nineteenth-tier power attempting to break the Space Sealing Rune beyond Western Ring Nebula. One hundred and twenty five years will be required to break the Rune with this power."

At the same time that voice spoke, in the mid of a layer of purple lightning beyond the Space Sealing Rune was Su Ming, who stood there quietly. He pulled his right hand back. Before him was an endless galaxy. At that moment, booming sounds were ringing in the galaxy. The countless planets within it were smashing into each other, and violent crashes were sounding nonstop.

"As expected of the Space Sealing Rune," Su Ming remarked flatly.

"But… there is a fatal flaw within this Rune that can even block those who can control fate, lives, and death. It… belongs to this galaxy." Su Ming lifted his right hand, and as the Divine Essence Runic Symbols in his right eye shone, he gently let his hand fall.

At the instant his palm landed on the Rune through the air, the booming sounds from the galaxy before him became much louder. As they echoed in the air, an endless amount of planets crashed into each other and exploded. The booming sounds continued nonstop. Su Ming's will spread out abruptly, and within an instant, it covered the entire area. Once he did that, the laws and rules surrounding the galaxy in this area disappeared.

Instantly, the galaxy looked as if it had lost the power that could make it float in this cosmos… and right before Su Ming's eyes, it started plummeting down at a rapid speed.

From the distance, this was a scene that could shock the hearts of many, and it was enough for the hearts of the cultivators to quicken their pace. The galaxy had turned into rain and spilled all over the cosmos…

For the first time, the Space Sealing Rune beyond the area where the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds were stationed was broken. There was a bizarre air to this action that would leave people in disbelief of this method of breaking the Rune. It was not a forceful break, and neither was it a skillful evasion of the Rune… It was done by extracting the laws and rules within it, causing the Rune… to lose its source of power. After this, it simply came crashing down like rain, like how a bead curtain that wards off dust at the entrance of a room falls once the strings holding it to the doorframe are gone. Once it collapsed with a rustling sound, the place lost its door.

Su Ming's expression remained as calm as ever. The Duke of Crimson Flame was not of much use here, and had been turned into a totem. At the instant the Space Sealing Rune fell, Su Ming swept up the one hundred thousand lis of purple lightning and took a step forward into the galaxy where the forces of power from four Great True Worlds were stationed. This was also the area into which no one from Sinful Barren Lands had managed step into over the course of an innumerable amount of years.

'This battle must end swiftly!

'I'll make this quick!'

Translator's Notes:

1. Taia Planet: There was also a Taia Tribe in the land of Berserkers, but they are in no way related to each other. Might be named after the ten great swords of China.