1150 - 1157
Chapter 1150: The Heavens Have Dao, and Dao Has Reincarnation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming forgot his own status and lost all his past memories. He believed himself to be the man whose wife was about to give birth from the bottom of his heart.
However, there seemed to still be a hint of doubt at the very depths of his heart. This doubt was very faint, and it was barely noticeable, like a sign that was about to be wiped off in the cycles of life and death.
As the anxiety in his heart rose, that sign faded away until Su Ming disregarded it. He grabbed the doctor's arm and pushed him into the palanquin before rushing back to his house, not caring that the rain was getting heavier.
When he passed by the noodle stall, he still did not pay any attention to the people in there nor the mother who had lost her child and was calling out to her in the distance.
When they reached his house and Su Ming began waiting anxiously outside the room, he forgot everything about his past. It was as if he was a mortal husband whose wife was about to give birth.
His heart was filled with agitation. The corners of his eyes turned red. A feeling of unrest seized his heart as his wife screamed in pain in the room…
Not long after Doctor Mo entered the room and his wife let out a shrill scream of pain, the door to the room was pushed open. When Su Ming saw a baby drenched in blood in the doctor's arms, he went forward. Like a real father, he was about to hold the baby, but he instinctively cast his gaze at the bed in the room. A shudder ran down his back when he saw his still and unmoving wife.
Grief appeared in his eyes. He ignored the doctor and the baby and walked towards the bed. He stared at the woman who no longer breathed but whose lips still held a smile filled with maternal love, and an intense pain that made Su Ming feel as if his heart was being torn apart rose in him.
He shuddered. This authentic feeling made it seem like he had went through half of his life with this woman…
"Is this your choice?! Why didn't you ask me?! WHY?!"
Su Ming turned his head around and stared at the doctor with the baby in his arms. His eyes filled with red, and his gaze held a hint of madness.
He knew that his wife was going through a difficult labor and there was a high possibility that the doctor could only keep one alive, but if he had to choose, he would choose his wife without any hesitation, not the baby.
However… this choice had already become something of the past.
The intense pain of his heart being torn apart drowned Su Ming's mind. As he laughed brokenly, a storm raged in his head. It brought about a faint memory. It seemed to be telling him that this was a cycle of life and death. He was no longer himself but had become the doctor before his eyes.
In that memory… he seemed to have chosen the baby. It seemed like this had always been his choice.
A confusion mixed with madness and grief Su Ming could not put to words made him instinctively raise his hand. He had a strong feeling that as long as he pointed at the doctor through the air, he could destroy all lives.
He raised his hand and pointed at the doctor.
He saw disbelief appear in the doctor's eyes and a hint of understanding within it. This understanding made Su Ming remember something, but it was soon overcome by grief.
The doctor fell to the ground, breathing his last…
Su Ming threw his head back and laughed brokenly. As his laughter echoed in the air, it seemed to act as a response to the forlorn calls of the woman in the rain…
On that night, the doctor wasn't the only one who lost his life. The four midwives and everyone else were the same. When the morning arrived and the rain ended, their corpses had already been buried in the darkness.
With Su Ming's status in the county town, he only needed to spend a rather large sum of money to resolve this matter. Everyone's lives continued, and time slowly passed. One year, three years, six years…
The baby girl slowly grew up. She was an obedient little girl that was full of youthful vigor, but she was not loved by her father. When they were alone, she could only see her father's aloof gaze.
Her only companion was the son of the teacher in her house. He was a boy who learned with her. He had been born several months before her and had grown up alongside her.
Su Ming did not like the little girl, because she was too similar to her mother. It made him remember his deceased wife, and an intense pain like that of his heart being ripped apart would strike him.
He loved to silently stare at the sky during rainy days. He would watch the rain fall and the world be enveloped by a curtain of water. Then, without realizing it, he would remember everything that had happened a few years ago.
On one rainy night, Su Ming stared at the rain, and at the instant he closed his eyes, the world was reduced to pieces and turned into a gigantic vortex. When he opened them again, the fragments instantly merged together and regrouped.
He was no longer the little girl's father, but a thin middle-aged man with a scar on his face who dressed in long robes. He was very knowledgeable, but had an ugly face. Due to it, he had been repeatedly treated as a liar, and he had never been able to achieve his ambitions. He could only become a teacher in a house that belonged to some official in a county town.
"Teacher, when man does plenty of good, the heavens will always reward them, is it true?" A clear, puzzled voice reached Su Ming's ears. He lowered his head and saw two children sitting in front of him in the room used to teach.
The two children were about six or seven, and they were a boy and a girl. The one who asked the question was the little girl. Her eyes were full of innocence as she stared at Su Ming.
He only had two students. One was his son, and the other the daughter of the official.
He had always taught his son to be kind and to do what was right, to live like a pine tree and never give up. He had also taught the little girl who was not loved by her father to be independent, to not be sad, and to grow up kind…
"Of course it's real. Doing good is the way to become a proper human being. If everyone did good, there would no longer be unkindness in the world. Remember this, people are born kind. We do not do good for the heavens, but instead, when we help others, we will receive a baptism of our hearts," Su Ming said softly with a smile.
"I know, I know. Grandpa, I saw someone fishing yesterday, so I asked the old fisherman to let go of the fish. This is an act of kindness," the boy immediately said loudly with a laugh.
"All things in the world have souls. The kindness you performed today saved a life, and you will surely be rewarded in the future," Su Ming said with a smile.
This time, he no longer retained a single one of his past memories. Even the hint of doubt in his heart from the previous cycle had disappeared without a trace. He had truly become someone of this world.
"Then when I see someone fishing in the future, I will also do good."
It seemed like the little girl did not want to admit that she had lost to the boy. She cast a glance at him and pouted.
Su Ming stared at the two children's expressions, and a smile appeared on his face. When the sun gradually set, he ended his class for the day, and based on his habit, he went to one of the noodle stalls in the county town. He sat there and ordered a bowl of noodles with hot soup. It tasted pretty good, which was why he seemed to always come to this place.
The owner of the noodle stall was an old man with a head full of white hair. He was dressed in gray robes, and he had always made his own noodles over the years. Even if he sometimes had a worker, the younger person would only be in charge of helping and assisting him.
When he only had a few customers, the old man would smoke his pipe while sitting on the large stone by the stall. He would use the grass on the side to weave grass puppets while he watched the passersby around him. Occasionally, he would drink some wine with his customers. His eyes were slightly muddled, but every single time Su Ming looked towards the old man, he would have a strange feeling.
It was as if he could see a hint of compassion in the old man's eyes, along with the anguish behind it.
This hadn't changed over the years, but Su Ming did not ask. He liked this place. He loved sitting at the noodle stall and drinking hot soup while watching the people in the world outside. It was a good time to think about his life.
On that day, when Su Ming put the bowl down, he raised his head and saw that the old man was staring at him as usual. Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke.
"Old man, why do you always look at me? This isn't something that has happened just once or twice. Over the years, every single time I come here, you stare at me."
The old man tapped the tobacco pipe against the ground. As he smiled, he spoke softly, with words that carried a profound meaning. "It is not I who is staring at you, but you who is staring at yourself."
Su Ming stared at the old man. After pondering over his words for a moment, he found himself unable to understand the meaning behind them and shook his head.
"You don't understand, huh? Heh heh, I am watching and waiting for the day you will no longer come and… another you arrives."
Su Ming frowned. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the old man mumble to himself.
"The fisherman always comes here, because I buy his fish. Only with it can I make the soup for my noodles taste like seafood… Not all children are kind-hearted by nature. Only when they are taught to be kind will they try to persuade the fisherman to let go of the fish they caught…
"The heavens have Dao, and Dao has reincarnations. If that child was not dragged away by the fish, the wife of the official would not have been possessed and forced to give birth. If that was the case��� the doctor would still be the doctor and not a corpse… The official would also still be the official. He would not have become a man who did not love his own daughter.
"If that was the case, he would also not have the teacher teach his own daughter, but would instead teach her himself. Perhaps he would not teach her how to perform deeds of kindness, and she would not persuade the fisherman to release the fish…
"And because of it, the teacher would not be around, and his son would also not be around…"
When Su Ming heard this, his heart trembled. He suddenly stood up and stared at the old man in a dumbfounded manner. He could vaguely feel like something in his mind was about to break, but at that moment, the old man sighed softly. He stared at Su Ming with a complicated gaze. This gaze made him feel like… he was staring at a bronze mirror which reflected himself.
"You have yet to arrive at the moment when you gain the epiphany. Go on, be on your way…"
The old man shook his head and tapped the tobacco pipe in his hand against the ground. Immediately, a bang rang in Su Ming's head. The world shattered to pieces during that instant and turned into a gigantic vortex.
It spun with loud rumbles, and the fragments of the broken world regrouped to form another scene in the same world—a new cycle of life and death.
Chapter 1151: The Memory of Seven Breaths
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The girl was a child whose mother had died and whose father did not love her.
Since birth, she had never seen her father smile, and she had never had any sort of paternal love. From the moment she could remember herself, she had to cover her body and face with blankets during the nights, and in the morning, she had to be careful and avoid the rooms in which her father stayed. If she ran into him, she would only see his aloof gaze.
It seemed to be resenting her for not dying, and while she was still just a child, she understood what it meant…
She did not have many friends. There was only the son of her teacher who had grown up with her, and he was her childhood friend. If she was to add another person as her friend, then it would be the teacher. He taught her to perform good deeds and taught her how to read. He shouldered all the tasks that a father should take up.
As she gradually grew up, she stopped crying at night, because she knew why her father did not love her. It was because she had killed her mother. She had died because of her.
The girl seldom left her yard. She did not want to go anywhere, since every single time she did so, her father's gaze when she returned would seem to contain resentment. It would seem to question her why she still came back and why… she had not died outside!
She lived in this sort of environment since her birth, and she was incredibly afraid of her surroundings, which led to her timid nature. However, on that day, she decided to venture outside, because she heard from her teacher during her lessons that saving a life was an act of kindness. She wanted to be like her childhood friend and ask the fisherman to let a fish go.
That was why even if faint signs of dark shadows appeared in the sky, which seemed to promise that rain would pour for several days once it came, she still snuck out and appeared on the fishing platform beside the lake. She saw the fisherman sitting there while a fishing net hung on a pillar beside him. There was a big fish struggling inside it.
"Grandpa, could you give me that fish?" the little girl asked in a whisper of the fisherman who had his back turned towards her.
"Grandpa, that fish is really pitiful. Please don't eat it and give it to me…" the little girl pleaded.
The fisherman turned around. It was an old man who had an amiable and kindly face. He stared at the girl and smiled.
"Ah, what am I to do with you children? A few days ago, a young lad came and asked me to free my fish. Today, you're here as well. But if I let all the fish go, how am I supposed to live?" The old fisherman pulled his fishing rod back with a smile. Once he fixed the bait on the hook, he threw the line back into the water.
"Grandpa, the person you mentioned just now is my older brother. You released the fish you caught for him, so please do it for me too! It's so pitiful, and its parents must definitely be feeling anxious…"
The little girl took a few steps forward and lowered her head to stare at the fish in the net beside the pillar.
"Who said I let the fish go? When that lad saw that I didn't agree, he ran off, discouraged," the old man said with a smile.
The little girl was momentarily stunned, but determination soon appeared on her face. She went behind the fisherman and raised her little hands to tap his back, giving him a massage. She looked incredibly adorable.
"Grandpa, come on, please?"
Time trickled by. The little girl's pleas lasted for more than two hours. The fisherman smiled and shook his head, looking resigned. He got up and moved to the pillar where the net was, then opened it. The fish instantly swam into the lake, diving into the depths, and disappeared without a trace.
"Alright, I released it. This should be enough, right?" The fisherman smiled and patted the girl's head. As she beamed at him, he turned around and continued fishing.
A happy smile appeared on the girl's face. With a tinkling laughter, she ran away.
The young girl did not know that when she left, the fisherman raised his fishing rod, and a big fish was caught. No one could say whether it was the one which he had released moments earlier or whether it was another one. In the end, the fact was that the fisherman caught another fish. He put it in the net and hung it on the pillar again.
With excitement on her face, the little girl ran back to the county town. On her way, she passed by the noodle stall without noticing an old man sitting on the large rock. With a complicated gaze, he stared at the little girl leaving into the distance while tapping the tobacco pipe gently against the ground.
When he tapped the ground, the little girl who had already ran into the distance suddenly came to a stop. She saw the world in front of her suddenly shatter before they were swept up to form a vortex. It pulled her in, and after an unknown amount of time passed, the fragments regrouped, forming a deep lake.
Fish swam within its depths, and no one could say where it came from. One particular fish moved in the water and seemed to swim about without any sentience.
It was a fish which had lived for an unknown number of years in the lake, but it did not have many memories. Whatever it could remember only lasted for seven breaths. Everything else was a blank slate.
The days repeated themselves, and every year passed by in the same manner. The fish swam in the lake, occasionally surfacing to stare at the scenery beyond. It watched the passing of seasons. There were times in the past where it wanted to rush out of the water and take a look at the sky and earth, but the moment this thought appeared in its head and it could take action, it had already lost that thought. This was because that thought had come from surpassed the span of seven breaths… and because of it, the fish forgot it.
However, with only the memories worth the time of seven breaths, the fish did not know grief, and neither did it know joy. Seven breaths were too short, so short that even its grief would only last for at most seven breath. Then, it would forget why it had been sad.
Its joy would last for at most seven breaths as well, since it would forget why it was happy.
With its memory like that, the fish's mind was blank most of the time. It had no memories and thoughts. It would only swim about in the lake based on its instinct. It would stare at its companions, at the darkness, and the distance where no future existed.
One day, when a fish bait sank into the lake, it entered the fish's line of vision.
It knew what it was, but it still went up to bite it. When it was pulled up by the fish hook and flung onto the platform, it saw the blue sky and the world beyond the water, but a pity… it only had seven breaths worth of memories. When it was placed in a net and the net was hung beside a pillar, it could only struggle against the net. During that time, it would only struggle for seven breaths… because after that time, it would have forgotten that it had been caught by someone…
It also forgot that the lake where it was should not be this small and that it should not have a net which it could not leave. Because of that, it would swim about in the net in a carefree manner.
When the net was lifted out of the water and the fish struggled with the pain of suffocation, it saw a little girl. That girl had raised the net, bringing it such great agony.
The fish glared at the little girl, and as it continued struggling, several breaths passed. It forgot why the little girl had lifted the net. The fish only remembered that the girl was the one who had caused it great pain.
Its memories only lasted for seven breaths, so when it struggled free through a gap that had suddenly opened up in the net, it forgot that it had once been caught and brought out of the lake by someone. It forgot that it had been placed in a net, and it forgot that the net was not its home. It only remembered that during the first breath of its memories, the girl had brought it pain. Because of that, when it returned to the water, it leaped up again. It did not know why its body would instantly turn big, but with a single bite, it dragged the little girl into the lake…
Time seemed to continue trickling by. The fish could never know how much of it had passed. Perhaps it had just been seven breaths, but… at that instant, it saw another hook falling into the lake.
It had already forgotten about the dangers of the hook, yet it seemed to know what that hook was. Once it bit it again, it was brought out of the water again, and it was put into a net again before being placed into the water with only a limited area of movement. Then, just like before, it forgot the start of the story and only remembered the ending.
This time, the fish did not see the girl. Instead, after an unknown amount of time passed, the net was opened and it swam out to return to the lake. Upon being freed, it cast the fishing platform a glance. On it stood an old man, and by his side was a little girl who seemed to be staring at it…
When seven breaths passed, the fish started swimming about in the lake, but this time, it seemed to be trying hard to think of something, and it continued thinking even when it bit down on another fish hook and was brought out of the water…
It still continued thinking when night fell and it was taken out of the lake the second time. It had already forgotten the start and the ending. The fisherman took it and sent it to the noodle stall where it opened its eyes to see an old man holding a tobacco pipe through the net. He was using grass to weave grass puppets while staring at it.
"You are my sixth reincarnation…" he said.
There was an ancient air to his words, and the one sentence was spoken so slowly that he spent a total of seven breaths to finish speaking it. This allowed the fish to hear the full sentence, thereby allowing it to be recorded in its memories for all time.
It turned into a loud rumble, and the fish seemed to have remembered something. As its world crumbled, the fragments of the shattered world turned into a vortex. With a howl, it took away the final shred of thought in the fish's mind. It could not see the fragments regrouping, and it could not see another world appearing before its eyes.
Zhang Wen Zhang [1] was his name. It was a name that looked very common, but in truth held a hint of a poetic flair. His father had given him that name, and as the son of a teacher, Zhang Wen Zhang thought that this was quite a good name.
At the very least, based on the name alone, the others would know that he was an educated person.
Yet in reality, he did not like studying. He liked personally cooking good food, such as brewing soup or making noodles. Perhaps it was due to this hobby that as he gradually grew up, he was no longer as gentle and frail as his name suggested, which meant that he was an article written in a book. Instead, he turned into a young man who leaned slightly on the plump side.
His round face looked rather honest, but the light occasionally shining in his eyes would allow other people to tell that he was rather cunning. Yet that was all that they could see. After all, the cunning that others could see was usually something intentionally shown, and it was all due to a person's ego of not wanting other people to think that they were not smart.
Translato's Note:
Zhang Wen Zhang: Zhang is a family name, while Wen Zhang means essay. A long time ago in China, only the rich can study, and the poor did grunt work or hard labor. So, the rich do not need to do hard work, which means they easily get sick compared to the boys who learn martial arts or do hard work, which means they are frail and gentle. Since essay is associated with studies, that's why we have frail and gentle.
Chapter 1152: Watching Lives Pass as He Counted the Cycles of Life and Death Quietly in His Heart
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Wen Zhang might not like studying, but as the son of a teacher, he believed that he should sound eloquent when he spoke. It was rather difficult for him, however, which was why he listened to the advise of the daughter of his father's employer, the one he was incredibly fond of and the one who was incredibly beautiful…
He started intentionally showing a thoughtful expression. No matter whether he was sleeping, eating, walking, or doing something else, he would keep a thoughtful expression. This was the method the girl he liked had mentioned to him when they were young. She suggested that he should look like he was constantly thinking about something, and because of that others would believe that he was knowledgeable.
Zhang Wen Zhang abused this method to its limit, and gradually, as he grew up, he began to slowly think for real instead of just pretending to do it.
On the day he married the woman he liked under the envious gazes of those around him, he thought about his life. When they were about to bow to heaven and earth as part of the wedding ceremony, the woman had to drag him down in anger so they could finish the ceremony.
He was very fortunate that the woman he liked had a father who did not love her. Because of that, he completely disregarded the marriage in which Zhang Wen Zhang's status did not match up to that of his beloved. In fact, the man did not even turn up for the ceremony.
This luck seemed to have accompanied him throughout his life. As he continued pondering it, he thought to have come to understand something, but when he thought about it carefully, he found that he had understood nothing.
Time trickled by. On the second summer since the marriage, there was a night with rain pouring from the sky. There was a storm on that night, and as lightning crackled, his wife was about to give birth.
On that night, his father-in-law threw his head back in the rain and laughed as if he had gone mad. He did not care about the rain drenching his body. His laughter echoed in the air, and there was grief in his voice.
Zhang Wen Zhang stared at his father-in-law in the rain. The man's crazed expression made him sink into contemplative silence. However, his thinking only lasted for a short moment before it was interrupted by anxiety. Because… his wife's shrill screams of pain came from the house. Her voice was full of the pain from experiencing a difficult labor.
It caused his heart to tremble, and he could no longer ponder about his life. Fear was in his heart. He was afraid that on this day, he would part with his wife forever. Once the day ended, he might become as crazy as his father-in-law.
As his wife's pained screams continued ringing in the air and his father-in-law's laughter grew stronger, Zhang Wen Zhang shuddered. At that moment, someone pushed open the door to his wife's delivery room. The midwife who was brought over to receive the baby ran out with an expression full of fear.
"Monster… Monster!"
Zhang Wen Zhang's heart shuddered. He rushed into the house and cast a glance at the room where his wife was giving birth. When he saw her pained expression, he called out to the other people in the room to bring the palanquin. Then, they rushed out of the room.
He wanted to get a doctor, not a midwife, because he had a strong feeling that this birth might cost someone a life. If that was the case, then it was no longer something with which a midwife could help. He needed a doctor to save his wife's life!
With rain pouring down on him, he walked past the noodle stall which was still open despite the storm. He did not notice the old man sitting on the rock with his gaze towards him. Zhang Wen Zhang in too much hurry to pay attention to those around him.
When he finally brought the doctor whose skills were rather similar to those of Doctor Mo back to the courtyard, Zhang Wen Zhang stared at his wife's labor room before gritting his teeth and stepping inside. He did not want to wait outside. He wanted to hold his wife's hand so that he could go through the hardship with her.
But the moment he pushed open the door to the room, someone else pushed it open from within as well. Lightning crackled and thunder roared. At that instant, he saw a baby in the doctor's arms, and he also saw the body of his wife lying on the bed without moving or breathing.
A loud roar went off in his head. In his ears he heard his father-in-law laughing shrilly outside. His body shuddered, and he walked to his wife. He stared at her pale face which reminded of a corpse, but which still had a smile filled with maternal love on its lips. His heart was torn apart forcefully. At that moment, he no longer thought about life, but instead turned around to glare at the doctor.
An illusion manifested without his knowledge. It seemed like another figure was slowly forming in front of him. As for the doctor staring at him, disbelief appeared on his face, along with some sort of understanding.
Zhang Wen Zhang did not know that his father-in-law had gone through almost the exact same thing in the past, but the difference was that his father-in-law had had the figure appear behind him, while he himself had turned into the illusion, and the figure appearing in front of him was a body manifesting itself to gain corporeal form.
It was also at this moment that a loud rumble suddenly rang out in Zhang Wen Zhang's head, as if a sealed memory had suddenly been released. At the instant it was freed, he woke up from the cycle of life and death. He opened his eyes from his sleep, and slowly, they cleared from earlier madness and gained clarity. He did not look any different from before, but there was an air of someone who had gained some form of epiphany about him.
He closed his eyes. As his memories returned and he woke up from the cycles of life and death, he remembered everything. He was not Zhang Wen Zhang… but Su Ming!
He was True Morning Dao World's Su Ming, the Abyss Builder's Su Ming, and the Su Ming who had prepared and activated the Mortal Refinement Art on a broken planet to refine the white ring!
He remembered everything… but he could not remember the cycle of lives he had gone through. His memories reached only up to the moment when he stepped into the world formed by the Mortal Refinement Art.
In silence, Su Ming turned his head around to cast a glance at the body of the woman lying on the bed. He saw her face, and he shuddered lightly.
The woman looked like Bai Feng from his memories, or rather, as Bai Ling from Dark Mountain…
'In this cycle, she was my wife…'
In silence, Su Ming raised his right hand and tapped Bai Ling's body gently. A wave of life force immediately surged into her. Even though her life had been about to disappear a moment ago, she slowly opened her eyes.
She stared at Su Ming, and a smile bloomed on her frail face.
"Let me… take a look at our child…"
Su Ming stared at Bai Ling. With his memories recovered, he couldn't help the complicated emotions in his heart. However, they did not reflect on his face. Instead, he nodded and took the baby from the doctor's arms before returning to Bai Ling's side. The two of them stared at the baby together, and the smile on Bai Ling's face showed maternal love.
"He looks quite like you, but he'd best not be as silly as you," Bai Ling said with a smile, but there was still a hint of weakness to it.
Su Ming closed his eyes and hid the complicated look in his eyes. He sighed in his heart.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, three years went by.
During them, Su Ming stayed by Bai Ling's side. He no longer pondered over life, because life was right before his eyes. There was no longer anything to ponder about it. He was in a cycle of life, an illusory life. Within it, everyone was asleep, and only Su Ming was awake. He looked at the people living their lives in happiness, anger, sadness, and joy. He watched Bai Ling's gentleness towards him, watched as his child grew up, and the emotions he felt could not be described with words.
At certain times, waking up… was a form of suffering. If Su Ming had not remembered everything, he could have lived happily as he did in the past, but now, even if he wanted to live happily, it had become impossible to immerse himself in it completely once he knew that it was all fake.
Three years after Su Ming had regained his memories, Bai Ling's father closed his eyes and left the world.
Another three years passed, and Su Ming's father in this cycle, the teacher, also reached the end of his life.
Being born, growing old, getting sick, and dying were all parts of a person's life. The noodle stall from the past was no longer around. It was empty, as if it had disappeared without a trace in this time and place.
The child grew up, and wrinkles appeared on Bai Ling's face. When an ancient air surrounded Su Ming's body, time had walked a long path with Su Ming and Bai Ling in this cycle.
Bai Ling was happy. Even if she was old, every single time she looked at Su Ming, gentleness would appear in her eyes. When she whispered to him, she would talk about their childhood in this cycle, about how they had stayed together since they were young.
Su Ming, too, gradually stopped thinking about his past. He slowly allowed himself to immerse himself in the cycle. As they counted the white hairs on their heads, they slowly grew old together.
Then, their daughter married of. Then, the mercilessness of time aged Bai Ling's body as decades passed. More wrinkles appeared, and on a midnight several years later, she held Su Ming's hand. While staring at the starry sky beyond the window, she whispered under her breath…
"I had a dream. I dreamed of a mountain which housed an ancient tribe. I dreamed that I was a girl in that tribe, and I was dressed in white mink fur. There were some pretty embellishments at the center of my brows, and you… were a person from another tribe. One day, there was a blood moon, and you carried me on your back… At dawn, you circled the mountain with me. You did not want to send me back…
"I dreamed of a promise. A promise made between us…" Bai Ling mumbled. There was a smile on her lips. She did not manage to finish speaking though. Her words turned into murmurs, and she closed her eyes for the last time.
Su Ming held Bai Ling's hand, and nostalgia appeared in his eyes. He watched her life gradually flow from her body and the world go through a cycle of sixty years.
One year later, Su Ming sold the courtyard, because there were no longer any people in his memories of this place. As time passed, he became the oldest person in the county town. He witnessed all the changes during the cycle of sixty years, and far too many people living and dying. Then, he sold his property, built a platform at an empty spot in the county town, and there, he built a noodle stall.
He made noodles, brewed soup, weaved grass puppets, and watched lives pass as he counted the cycles of life and death quietly in his heart…
Chapter 1153: Thirteen Meteors
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Within a vast galaxy in True Morning Dao World was a whirlwind. It had already raged for over ten months. Thankfully, it did not continue becoming stronger, but it didn't weaken either. It continued raging in the galaxy, intending to destroy all signs of life.
Ten months might not be long even for a mortal, but in this place, to the cultivators who could originally move across galaxies and had the world at their beck and call… the ten months wa a very long period of time.
They could not venture too far away from their shelters. They had no way of learning what happened in the world outside and could not contact their fellow Daoists. They had been trapped in a hopeless situation and could only watch the whirlwind beyond the galaxy. Full of anxiety, they quietly waited for the day when the whirlwind would disappear on its own, which might or might not happen.
However, there were some cultivators who gradually found some indistinct patterns in the whirlwind with the use of their mighty strength and ceaseless investigations during the ten months. With the knowledge of the patterns, they could venture slightly further away to head to other places in search of their surviving companions… or to rob those who were in trouble!
At that moment, there were thirteen huge meteors not too far away from the planet where Su Ming was meditating. They were charging forth through the whirlwind. When they touched it, they shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye. Judging by looks of it, they would last only for three more days before they were crushed by the wind.
And this was under the condition that there was cultivation energy being sent continuously from the meteors to constantly neutralize the power of the World in the whirlwind. Otherwise, they would shatter even sooner.
The thirteen meteors were empty at the center, and there were three cultivators sitting cross-legged and meditating in each one of them. Their clothes were rather beautiful and did not seem to be disheveled. After all, during the ten months in which True Morning Dao World was reduced to wreckage, they did not care too much about it as cultivators.
Besides the three main cultivators who were meditating in each of the thirteen meteors, there were dozens of others around them. Their presences were weak, and their bodies were pinned against the walls by dozens of nails. Their minds were clear, but their cultivation bases had been pinned to the walls of the meteors in a bizarre fashion. They were connected to where they were situated.
They were clearly being treated as living spirit stones and were forced to release their cultivation bases continuously so they would fuse with the meteors to fight against the whirlwind in the world outside.
"Based on the information Old Monster Wen sent us several months ago, there is a planet in a rather good condition three days away from here. There are ripples of power from cultivation bases spreading out from there.
A middle-aged man who was one of the three people sitting in the meteor in the lead opened his eyes. A ferocious smile appeared on his lips, and he said languidly, "Let's hope that we can get a very good haul this time…"
"What if we run into those from Morning Dao Sect?" An old man also opened his eyes. When he voiced his question in a calm voice, he cast his gaze at the last person among them.
"There are no longer any sects after the great disaster in True Morning Dao World. We'll just kill them and use their cultivation base as a soul source to keep the Rune in operation. Their Enchanted Treasures will belong to me, their soul goes to you, and their body will go to Fellow Daoist Miao."
The last person of the three was a young man. He was dressed in a Constellation Robe, but the robe made it clear that he was not a direct descendant, just a member of the branch family.
However, the young man's power was incredibly great. He had already attained great completion in Solar Kalpa Realm, and he was only a step away from entering Mastery Realm. Yet for some unknown reason, the mighty pressure spreading out from his body could cause the other two to treat him as their equal.
Even if the they were in Mastery Realm!
After all, there were few who were weaklings among those able to survive so freely in the disaster. Only those who had the power of Almighties had the right to do so.
The two men cast each other a glance, then smiled faintly. They did not speak and closed their eyes.
Time trickled by. In the blink of an eye, three days went by. When the third day arrived, most the thirteen meteors had been lost, but they still did not disintegrate in the whirlwind. Instead, they turned into thirteen shooting stars that charged towards Su Ming's planet.
After a moment, booming sounds rang out from the planet. A powerful tremor shook it ceaselessly. There were many parts at the edges that were reduced to fragments and swept up by the whirlwind into the galaxy.
While Su Ming was enveloped by the Light of Extreme Darkness in the pit, a glint suddenly shone in the bald crane's eyes, and its gaze turned into a fierce glare. It flew up and rushed out of the Light of Extreme Darkness. Then when it cast its gaze into the distance, its expression changed.
'One, two, three… Darn it all, there are hundreds of people in those thirteen shooting stars?! That's not right, there are only 39 lively presences. The others… have been turned into puppets used to protect and operate the thirteen shooting stars… They're like human-shaped spirit stones. This idea isn't too bad. I didn't expect them to be able to use this method to move through the galaxy.
'Could it be… that they came here because of this place?'
A thought formed in the bald crane's mind, and it shrank, returning back to its place. It dissipated and fused with the Light of Extreme Darkness while changing the scenery so that no one would be able to see a pit, but flatland.
It did not take long before the 39 long arcs charged over from the distance. In an instant, they came to Su Ming's isolation grounds and drifted in space. An icy expression appeared on the 39 people's faces. They had grim, murderous looks.
Clearly, all of them were people who had killed plenty of others. There were six among them who exuded the mighty pressure belonging to Almighties, and even the weakest among them was in the later stage of World Plane Realm.
There were some who were originally cultivators from Morning Dao Sect, and there were also those from the Immortals' Union. They had been from two opposing parties who would fight against each other the moment they ran into each other ten months ago, but right then, they were on friendly terms. The reason for it was the disaster that had fallen on True Morning Dao World. The distribution of loot between them was also a factor to their cordial relationship.
"It's strange; it should be in this place. Based on the information the old monster told us, it should be this place!"
A glint shone in the eyes of the old man named Miao, and a jade slip showed up in his hand. When he read it, he frowned and spoke slowly.
"Could it be that Old Monster Wen sold us fake information?" one of the thirty people immediately asked with a cold sneer.
"He wouldn't dare. If he dared to sell us fake information, I would definitely find him and skin him alive. I would then use the fat of his corpse to light a lamp to burn his soul!"
"Impossible. Fellow Daoist Wen has a good reputation. Even if he is selling fake information, he wouldn't sell it to us. Could it be that the person here left?"
"He either left or hid himself. We might not be able to sense anything with our divine senses, but if we destroy this planet and fuse it into our Enchanted Vessels, we wouldn't have come here in vain. If that person has really hid himself, then when we crush the planet, he will naturally show up," the young man in the Constellation Robe said in a sinister voice.
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and seized space. Immediately, the galaxy rumbled, and a black, long blade appeared in his hand.
When it appeared, the weather changed. Waves of cold air crashed into everyone's faces, and greed immediately filled the expressions of the cultivators in the area. But their wariness was even greater than their greed.
"The sect defending treasure of the Immortals' Union's Freezing Blade Sect, the Heavenly Frost Cutting Blade… Heh heh, only you alone are suited to have this item, Brother Dao. At least my action of killing the Great Sect Elder of Freezing Blade Sect in the past when he went into isolation to cure his wounds wasn't in vain." The old man named Miao smiled faintly.
"Brother Miao, you praise me too much. I've also split up a portion of Great Sect Elder Han Dao's soul with you, didn't I? The strength of your divine sense is outstanding among your peers.
"And Brother Song obtained the physical body of Freezing Blade Sect's Great Sect Elder. After he refined it, he added another layer of refined skin on himself. He might be the person with the strongest physical body among his peers."
The young man dressed in the Constellation Robe made light of this matter. As he spoke, he raised his right hand and pushed it swiftly downwards!
The ground immediately roared, and a black thread appeared. As it distorted, several threads spread out from it. As they intersected with each other, they turned into a black net that charged towards the ground.
The net was large and had no end. Judging by the looks of it, once it landed, it would instantly crush the planet and cut it into countless stone fragments.
The flatland that the bald crane had manifested was also within the area where the net would cut. If it truly landed, Su Ming's isolation grounds would immediately be revealed.
The bald crane's illusion could hide them from the detection of all divine senses, but there was a huge weakness to it. What it created was an illusion, not something real. The naked eye and divine senses might not be able to detect it, but if anyone broke it forcefully, they would immediately notice the difference.
'Damn it, Su Ming still needs a few more months! Why did this group of people suddenly appear in this place?! And who is that Old Monster Wen?! How did he know that there's someone here?!'
The bald crane's eyes glowed in the Light of Extreme Darkness. A dark look appeared on its face, and it did not bother to dodge the black net descending on them. It simply allowed the net to charge towards the ground.
When the ground trembled, huge cracks immediately appeared. They spread out and intersected with each other with loud bangs. In just a few breaths, a loud bang came from the planet as if it was about to crumble.
Yet at that moment when the black net cut up the planet and touched the illusion, it suddenly disappeared on its own, and an endless black light spread out from within.
The thirty something cultivators in the area were the first to be affected. At the instant the black light spread out, some of them immediately let out shrill screams of pain. Cold chills filled their bodies. Four of them who were cultivators in the later stage of World Plane Realm plunged straight to the ground. With a thump, their bodies turned into blocks of ice. Their Nascent Divinities could not escape either. They were instantly shot through by the black light, and their forms as well as their souls were destroyed.
The other people escaped by a stroke of luck, but shock was on all their faces. Only the eyes of the six cultivators who had the presences of Almighties spreading out from their bodies filled with greed, even if they were retreating with the others.
"What is this light?!"
"Haha! There's definitely a person in this place! He has such a powerful light with him, but he chose to hide, so it's certain that he's severely wounded and is exercising his breathing to heal himself. This is our chance!
Chapter 1154: The Road to Hell
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"This light…" The instant the young man in the Constellation Robe saw the black light, he frowned as if he had remembered something.
"This is the Light of Extreme Darkness! I've seen in True Morning Dao World before. At that time, it was controlled by Dynast Dao Kong. Could it be that the person recovering from his injuries here is Dynast Dao Kong?" A glint appeared in the young man's eyes. It shone with excitement and bloodthirstiness.
"Move into formation!" the old man named Miao roared while licking his lips. The thirty something people in the area immediately moved and surrounded the area from which the Light of Extreme Darkness spread out. They formed seals with their hands, and at a deep shout from the old man named Miao, they lifted their palms. Using all their power, they pushed down against the ground.
The land trembled, and the planet rumbled. It already had plenty of cracks, and after the attack, it looked like it could no longer withstand the pressure. It crumbled and shattered As layer upon layer of the planet tumbled backwards, what was revealed in the galaxy before the people's eyes was a gigantic stone of about one hundred thousand feet big.
That stone encapsulated the pit in which Su Ming was sitting!
The thirteen planets which had descended flew up and surrounded the area to form a Rune, preventing the whirlwinds from surging inside. As for those which had come out, these cultivators had no need to fear their power for the time being.
The moment the planet shattered and the stone was revealed, the bald crane let out a shrill screech. The Light of Extreme Darkness spread out swiftly, and the thirty something people immediately cried out again. When they retreated, two more people turned into blocks of ice and fell onto the planet.
'Damn it! If it wasn't because I, Grandpa Crane, need to split my divine sense to maintain Su Ming's world of reincarnation, I would have killed all of you bastards a long time ago! But I can't do it because I can't move too much of the Light of Extreme Darkness!
'If Su Ming woke up, then it'd be even easier to kill these people… Damn it, why are there so many of them, and six of them are even Almighties! Th-th-this… This is just bullying!'
The bald crane felt slightly anxious. It would have been easy if the enemy wasn't numerous, but with so many people… The bald crane did not fear them, but it knew that Su Ming's Mortal Refinement Art was at a critical stage. If he was disturbed, an irreversible change might occur. Besides, once he failed, he would no longer be able to use this refinement Art to subjugate the supreme treasure.
"This is indeed the Light of Extreme Darkness! If we absorbed it, our offensive abilities would increase by a large margin!"
The greed in the eyes of the old man named Miao grew stronger. Without any hesitation, he raised his right hand and swung it forward. Immediately, the galaxy shuddered and distorted. In the area surrounded by the thirteen shooting stars, dozens of huge eyeballs appeared!
They were filled with blood capillaries, and some of them were even damaged. However, all their pupils shone with a brilliant light at that instant. When it gathered and was about to shine on the stone serving as Su Ming's isolation grounds, it was surrounded by the Light of Extreme Darkness.
The eyeballs were the Eyes of the Sacred Temple!
When they appeared, the old man named Miao formed a seal with his hands and pushed his palms against his chest before coughing up a mouthful of blood. It immediately turned into blood-red marks which stuck to each eyeball.
"Make the offering!" he roared.
Immediately, around forty of the hundreds of people pinned to the walls of the thirteen shooting stars started trembling violently. Some of them had belonged to the Sacred Temple and had been the ones in control of the eyeballs.
As they shuddered and coughed up blood, it raced through the shootings stars and charged towards the eyeballs. Once it fused with them, the eyeballs shone with a blood-red light. When they cast their gazes on the Light of Extreme Darkness, they seemed to be able to penetrate the light, making it semi-transparent and allowing the people in the area to see Su Ming sitting cross-legged and meditating in the Light of Extreme Darkness. A huge ring was spinning slowly above him. In fact, even the bald crane's figure, which was originally hidden in the light, was revealed for a short time.
Moments later, a dozen of eyeballs exploded with a bang. Clearly, they were only able to see through the Light of Extreme Darkness with much effort on their part and after sacrificing some of their number. The dozens of cultivators from the Sacred Temple also collapsed.
This had happened because Su Ming had yet to awaken; otherwise, with his status as the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness, even if there were ten times the number of eyeballs, they would still be unable to see through his light. The bald crane, however, was only an entity with only its soul left, and it had also lost many of its memories. It only had its instincts left, and it was not strong enough to use the Light of Extreme Darkness to fight against Almighties.
"That is…"
"That is definitely some kind of supreme treasure! I can vaguely sense the mighty pressure coming from it! This is a supreme treasure that can bring forth the Light of Extreme Darkness!"
"He's not Dao Kong. That person's figure doesn't belong to Dao Kong. Then the appearance of the Light of Extreme Darkness is definitely due to that supreme treasure. I understand now, he's using the supreme treasure to cure his wounds. By the looks of it, he should be gravely wounded!"
All of the Almighties, including the young man in the Constellation Robe, looked at each other, and they could see the greed in each other's eyes.
"Heh heh, I didn't expect that there would be a soul entity in the Light of Extreme Darkness as well. I'll take care of it, but I'll need some help. Fellow Daoist Han, you used a treasure to destroy my entire army of cultivators in the past. Don't tell me that you didn't bring it with you this time."
An old man dressed in black robes and who possessed the power of an Almighty laughed hoarsely. His physical body started withering rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he became emaciated, reduced to only a layer of skin. In fact, even his bones seemed to have melted, making his body squeeze together. A wisp of black smoke flew out from the top of his skull.
The black smoke moved through space while changing into a three-headed malicious spirit. It roared toward the heavens, and the ripples of power which belonged to Almighties spread out from it. This was no longer a Nascent Divinity, but a magical entity that had fused with a Nascent Divinity after refinement!
The three-headed malicious spirit roared and charged towards the Light of Extreme Darkness. At the same time, a cold sneer appeared on the face of a middle-aged man dressed in purple robes. He did not speak, but instead raised his right hand and flung something into space before he sat down and began meditating. Clearly, the item he had thrown just then required him to immerse his entire mind in it to control it.
Booming sounds rose into the air, and the galaxy trembled. A gigantic, green log appeared before everyone. There was an old face on its surface.
However, most if it was damaged, and it looked rather indistinct. At the instant it appeared and the purple-robed man sat down, the eyes of the giant log flew open. At the same time, a freezing glare shone in them. The log let out a loud bang and charged toward the Light of Extreme Darkness.
The three-headed malicious spirit laughed ferociously and rushed forth as well.
'Damn it, that's an Enchanted Treasure that is only brought out during large-scale wars, a treasure that can only be activated by tens of thousands of people, and he could activate it on his own?! This… Darn it all, so all the souls of a sect fused into this log when the sect was destroyed? Because of it, they might have a chance to Possess others and be resurrected once the disaster is over!
'It's a pity that this item was given to someone unworthy. Or it is a treasure he snatched away once he killed the original owner?!'
The bald crane used its full power to operate the Light of Extreme Darkness. With a loud whoosh, it shone brightly. Immediately, it crashed into the giant log, and booming sounds reverberated in space. The log shuddered and shattered layer by layer, but it still pushed through t, drawing incredibly close to Su Ming.
Immediately after, the three-headed malicious spirit hidden behind the giant log roared towards the heavens and lifted its arms to seize the Light the Extreme Darkness. The bald crane instantly sensed great danger. It felt its soul being absorbed by a great force, about to be yanked out of the Light of Extreme Darkness.
As the bald crane screamed, its wings suddenly flashed, and its body changed into that of a seven-colored peacock. Screeching, it fought the suction force.
At that moment though, the old man named Miao who had summoned the Eyes of the Sacred Temple let out a cold harrumph and lifted his right hand to push against the Light of Extreme Darkness. The galaxy rumbled, and his palm turned into a huge seal that immediately suppressed the light.
The young man in the Constellation Robe formed a seal with his hands, and the Freezing Blade performed a horizontal slice to cut the Light of Extreme Darkness. Four Almighties were attacking together. All of them were by no means weak, since they could survive the disaster and even live luxuriously.
When they attacked simultaneously, there was no way the bald crane could stand up against them. It could not turn the tables and get out of the disadvantageous situation as its soul was being continuously sucked out.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, Fellow Daoist Si Ma, please attack together. Once we obtain this supreme treasure, we can try to gain an epiphany from it based on our own fortune.
"We'll see who among us is destined to have this treasure, and the others won't be allowed to fight against the one who obtains it, or we will all work together to kill that person! However, the person who obtains this treasure must provide some benefits to the others."
A glint shone in the eyes of the old man named Miao. His languid speech was a telling sign that he already treated the supreme treasure as theirs.
A man and a woman who seemed to be a wedded couple and who were by his side cast each other a glance. The man's eyes shone, and he smiled.
"My fellow Daoists, none of you have used your full strength, but you still ask me to attack. Clearly, you're worried that I will ambush all of you and snatch that treasure. Oh well, it wasn't easy for us to run into each other, and there are still plenty of things for us to do in the future. I will help you."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and pointed forward. Immediately, the power of the laws of fate appeared. Soon after, the woman by his side smiled faintly and pressed her left hand on his. White light instantly appeared between their palms, and it turned into a long, white blade. Instantly, the galaxy seemed on the verge of shattering.
With one swing, the light from the sword turned into white streak that charged towards the Light of Extreme Darkness. For the bald crane, having six Almighties attack it was a challenge it had never faced before, as far as it could remember. At that moment, as it was being extracted, it threw its head back and let out a fierce screech. Still in the shape of a peacock, it opened its tail!
Its was not in seven colors, but entirely black. At the instant the tail was spread, the Light of Extreme Darkness swept outwards as if it was water that had begun boiling!
Chapter 1155: One World, Nine Lifetimes
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Compared to the danger the bald crane was facing when dealing with the six Almighties trying to seize it, the world of reincarnations was in a state of peace.
Since there was no wind, there were no waves. Since there were no trees, there were no leaves which could move, making everything peaceful and quiet… Only the seasons changed silently while governed by a law that was different from the world outside, but no one noticed this change.
Time went by in a blink of an eye. As Su Ming watched the sun rise and set as people moved about around his noodle stall, he grew used to the smell of the smoke from his tobacco pipe, using blades of grass to weave grass puppets, and adding fish bones into his soup so that it would be filled with the scent of seafood.
Almost every day, a fisherman would deliver him fish. When he saw him, Su Ming felt like he was watching his first reincarnation, but also like he was staring at the fish that had been delivered to him. When it opened its mouth once it left the water, suffocating, Su Ming felt like he was watching another of his incarnations.
There was also the doctor who would not come close to his stand every single time he passed by as well as the official who had moved into the county town. He had then come with a group of servants and a palanquin on a rainy night to bring the doctor over.
When he saw them, Su Ming closed his eyes.
There was a teacher who could not achieve his ambitions visiting his noodle stall. He was used to drinking soup and eating noodles in this place, and not even storms could stop him from coming.
He would always bring his son, a child who looked rather smart, to drink soup together while they ate noodles…
Occasionally, a little girl would also follow them. When she came, she would usually play with the boy. Their happy laughter would echo in the air, and when it reached Su Ming's ears, a faint smile would grace his lips when he looked at them.
"Fisherman, little girl, fish, a doctor, an official, a teacher, the grown-up son, an old man who brews soup and makes noodles in a stall… Eight people, eight lives, but their lives intersect with each other quite often and affect each other…"
When the sun set, rain began to fall. Su Ming sat on the stone and stared at the dark clouds in the distance while he mumbled under his breath.
There was understanding in his eyes, along with a hint of sentimentality.
"If fate governs the sun rising and setting, then this would be the rise and fall of fate… it is also reincarnation… Reincarnation forms a net in which countless fates intersect with each other. Every single life in this net become part of the reincarnation."
Su Ming sighed softly.
'Mortal Refinement Art, what an Art… I am actually immersing myself in a cycle of life and death; this is clearly a way for me to gain an epiphany of Fate Realm. I am forming links of fate connecting me with the ring time and again, and they will turn into threads that bind it layer by layer until they cannot be unwound, and the ring would be impossible to separate from me…
'During one incarnation, I was a fisherman, and it was a fish. Bai Feng was the little girl. When I brought it out of water, I formed a link of fate with it without realizing it. Bai Feng released it, and then it dragged her into the lake, which formed a link of fate as well… and because of it… the incarnation afterwards was formed, because this is the rise of fate…
'During another incarnation, I was the doctor, and the ring was the baby in the woman's womb while Bai Feng was its mother… I killed Bai Feng and brought it out… and because of it, I formed a link of fate with it. This is the fate of helping it be born.
'During yet another incarnation, I was the official, and it was the baby in my wife's womb. I watched it grow, and it was Bai Feng, but also the soul of the ring. This is the fate of bloodlines…
'In another incarnation, I was a teacher. I taught children to perform good deeds, and I formed the fate of teaching and educating with it…
'In another incarnation, I was a fish, and it was the fisherman. As if the cycle of life and death had been reversed, I sensed the pain it felt in the past. This is the fate of empathy…
'We experienced lifetimes together until Bai Feng and I married each other. It then became my daughter, and this is the fate of a father and child… The ring and I have gone through seven lifetimes together and shared our fates. During the eighth lifetime, I have become an old man who counts the lifetimes and watches the cycles of life and death…
'This Mortal Refinement Art has nine cycles of life and death. I've experienced eight of them, so only one is missing… This missing cycle might be the fall of fate. The rise and fall of fate, a dream of reincarnation.'
Su Ming shook his head and opened his eyes. When he saw the world again, he found rain pouring outside. It was heavy and loud as it fell. After watching it for a long time, Su Ming went to close his eyes again, and but at that instant, he heard an indistinct, barely discernible, shrill cry in the rain.
"Feng Er… Feng Er…"
Su Ming's heart shuddered violently, but he still closed his eyes, because he knew that the missing cycle might… have already passed, and it was just that he had forgotten about it.
At the instant Su Ming closed his eyes, the world swiftly turned into countless shards. They were swept up into a vortex. As it spun with loud booming sounds, it gradually turned into nothingness.
…..
In True Morning Dao World, the planet in which Su Ming meditated had already shattered; the only thing that remained of it was the stone protected by the bald crane. Yet it was suppressed by the thirteen shooting stars. The Light of Extreme Darkness was attacked by the six Almighties working together, causing the bald crane to spread open a black tail in its madness.
With a whoosh, the galaxy seemed to freeze at that instant, and the Light of Extreme Darkness which surrounded Su Ming swept out violently. The giant log was the first affected and crumbled with a bang. It was disassembled layer by layer until it was reduced to ashes. The three-headed malicious spirit let out shrill screams of pain and retreated swiftly. Green smoke poured out from the magical entity, and it instantly became much weaker.
The Freezing Blade sliced down, but was sent backwards once it touched the black light. As booming sounds reverberated in the air, the expression of the young man in the Constellation Robe changed, and he staggered a few steps back.
The huge seal formed by the old man named Miao shattered as well, which made his pupils shrink.
Only the white sword beam coming from the long white blade between the wedded couple's palms did not dissipate when it charged down with a howl. Even if it had also been weakened when it touched the Light of Extreme Darkness and was reduced to a single thread, it still charged straight towards the meditating Su Ming.
Clearly, the wedded couple's target was not the bald crane or the ring, but Su Ming!
As long as they killed him, there would naturally no longer be any problems.
When booming sounds echoed in the air and the bald crane delivered its final hit after it spread its tail, most of the Light of Extreme Darkness around Su Ming dissipated, the spot in which Su Ming sat and his appearance was seen rather clearly by the group.
The bald crane let out a roar. With a bang, it turned back into its original appearance. Weakness appeared on its face, and its body that was a soul was reduced to a semi-transparent state. The bald crane rushed towards Su Ming, wanting to close in on the white sword thread before it reached him and stop it.
Yet at that moment, the three-headed malicious spirit that was originally retreating turned around swiftly. The six eyes on its three heads fixed on the bald crane before the creature rushed over at an indescribable speed.
"Damn it! This bald soul entity is mine! No one snatches it from me! I will swallow it! I'm going to crunch it to pieces bit by bit!" the three-headed malicious spirit roared.
The bald crane was about to reach Su Ming, but it could only watch helplessly as the white sword thread seeped into the center of his brows with a bang, and the three-headed malicious spirit caught up. It lifted its claw and sent it sweeping at the bald crane with a ferocious smile. The other people in the area rushed over, but at that instant, a flat voice echoed in all directions. It was not loud, but the instant everyone heard it, their hearts trembled!
"Who gave you the right?"
Su Ming opened his eyes. He had the look of someone who had experienced the vicissitudes of life from the cycles of life and death in his eyes, along with a chilling glare that could make the entire world submit to him. He also had a domineering air that could make the galaxy tremble and the universe surrender!
A boundless, maliciousness surrounded im. When it fused with his appearance, the feeling Su Ming gave off turned into a huge, chaotic presence. It could absorb all the wills in the world, and the dead stillness within him erupted without holding anything back.
He lifted his right hand and with just the simple act of seizing the air, the three-headed malicious spirit with the power of an Almighty found itself frozen, unable to fight back. As fear and shock appeared in its eyes, the magical entity disappeared before showing up in Su Ming's hand. He pushed his fingers inside it to grab its heart!
"Was it you?" Su Ming's gaze swept past the area.
The first person he looked towards was the young man in the Constellation Robe. His face instantly turned pale. A bang shot up in his head, and he staggered a few steps back. When he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his heart filled with great fear, causing him to instinctively shake his head. He felt that if he did not do so quickly enough and actually dared to nod, then with just one thought, this person could make him die ten million times.
"Then was it you?" Su Ming looked towards the old man named Miao.
The old man's face turned stark white. His body shuddered violently. An unprecedented fear rose up in him when he met Su Ming's gaze. He felt like the stranger was the universe, and at that moment, it seemed to be intent on wiping off all lives with an aloof mercilessness.
And the old man was just a tiny ant beneath the universe's anger!
"Then it was you," Su Ming stated flatly.
At the instant he said those words, the white ring above his head moved, and a ripple spread out from it before instantly disappearing. When it reappeared the next moment, it was in front of the purple-robed man who had activated the giant log. Fear showed up on his face. Before he could even say a single word, the ripple shot through his body, shattered it and destroying the soul.
At the same time this happened, Su Ming slowly furled his right hand and crushed the heart of the magical entity. With a bang, its body turned into a ball of fog. Su Ming flung it towards the bald crane's mouth.
"Chew it slowly. I didn't make its soul dissipate, so you will have to chew it slowly, bit by bit."
When Su Ming said those words in a flat voice, excitement and eagerness showed up in the bald crane's eyes. It opened its mouth and even used it claws to stuff the soul fog formed by the magical entity into its mouth… and it actually started chewing it slowly.
Shrill screams of pain shook the area, making the hearts of everyone present to tremble. At that instant, their gazes focused on Su Ming were filled with fear, as if they had just seen an ancient, ferocious beast that could shake the entire universe!
'Run!'
The remaining four Almighties and the twenty something people in the area only had one thought in their heads at that moment!
Chapter 1156: Old Monster Wen
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
'Run!'
They had to run. Su Ming's strength as well as the casualness and easy with which he killed the person shook the hearts of all the people. At that moment, when the four of them fled, their faces were pale. They brought forth all of their power.
The young man in the Constellation Robe turned into a star and charged towards one of the thirteen shooting stars around them.
The old man named Miao dashed away as well. Distortions swiftly appeared in the space around him, and as they flashed, his speed increased.
The pupils of the wedded couple shrank, and they turned into two sword beams that left into the distance with a loud whistle.
The twenty something cultivators in the area could not compare with the monstrous Almighties neither in terms of their speed nor reaction. Even though they were also retreating, they were much slower.
"You interrupted my meditation and scared my companion. How can I just let you leave like this?" Su Ming asked flatly.
He raised his foot and took a step forward. In an instant, his body sliced through space and appeared right behind the old man named Miao. He struck him gently with his right hand.
The expression of the old man named Miao changed drastically. He knew that it would be difficult for him to escape from this disaster, and madness appeared in his eyes. It was the one that made it clear that he was about to risk his life by fighting with everything he had. The old man named Miao naturally had his killing moves, since had been able to survive through the disaster and even live so luxuriously and freely.
The instant he turned around and looked at Su Ming while prepared to fight with everything he had, the old man named Miao growled and raised his arms to push up space. Then, he brought his arms down in Su Ming's direction.
"Life and Death!"
An iron book appeared in the old man named Miao's left hand. At the same time, a black wooden brush manifested in his right hand.
Su Ming had seen that set of Enchanted Treasure before. At the instant the old man brought it out, he roared again.
"Your life will be erased from the Book of Life and Death!"
He swung the wooden brush in his right hand and drew a line across the iron book serving as the Book of Life and Death. Immediately, a vast power spread out from the iron book. It turned into a huge, ferocious head of a ghost that opened its mouth to eat Su Ming.
"Interesting. Your level of cultivation is passable, and your divine abilities are not too bad. Give me your soul and acknowledge me as your master, then I will spare you," Su Ming said flatly.
The ghost head closed in on him, but he stayed still. The white ring floating behind him let out a buzz, and a ripple spread out from it. With a shudder, it touched the ghost head, and it immediately let out a shrill scream of pain. At the instant it crumbled and shattered, the iron book and wooden brush were also destroyed.
As for the old man named Miao, he coughed up a large mouthful of blood, and shock appeared on his face. Disbelief could be seen in his expression. Just as he was about to retreat, Su Ming took a light step forward. He casually lifted his right hand and squeezed the neck of the old man named Miao, then dug his fingernails into his skin. His expression was relaxed, but there was a blatant killing intent that made the old man shiver even though it was not cold.
"Do you choose to die or to live?" Su Ming asked flatly.
The old man named Miao laughed brokenly. He had intended to self-destruct, but once he met Su Ming's gaze, he could only shiver in place. He had a strong feeling that even if he self-destructed, he would not be able to injure the man in the slightest. The sense that spoke of the great disparity between their strengths made him certain that he would be unable to deal any sort of damage to Su Ming.
He closed his eyes. His soul fused into the center of his brows and turned into a Brand. Flashing once, it floated out. Su Ming sucked in a breath and swallowed it. Like this, he gained control of the life and death of the old man named Miao.
When he relaxed his right hand, the thirteen shooting stars in the area roared at once. Before the young man in the Constellation Robe could step into one, all thirteen moved simultaneously and charged towards the wedded couple. It surrounded them and formed a huge meteor that charged into the whirlwind. The two fled on their own, completely ignoring the young man in the Constellation Robe.
His eyes immediately turned bloodshot. At the instant he threw his head back and roared, Su Ming moved towards him languidly.
The instant Su Ming got close, the young man in the Constellation raised his hands and quickly formed a seal. Madness appeared in his eyes, and he flung his arms outwards. Immediately, the twenty something cultivators in the area who were fleeing shuddered. They let out shrill screams of pain, and their bodies withered, turning to ashes. However, the blood did not scatter. It gathered together to form a sea of blood that charged towards Su Ming.
At the same time, the young man in the Constellation Robe roared, and his body collapsed with a bang. His blood swept up his Nascent Divinity and rushed to attack as well. If anyone cast their gaze in that direction, they would find that the area around Su Ming contained a sea of blood. A bloody stench surged into the heavens, and crazed, shocking killing intent filled the area.
"You have quite good skills, so you have also showed your value. Acknowledge me as your master, and you will be able to live."
Su Ming did not dodge. He stared at the young man in the sea of blood with a cold gaze. The young man's Nascent Divinity jolted. He fell into silence for several breaths before the sea of blood immediately merged together and turned into a body of blood. The young man's Nascent Divinity fused into it, and he cast Su Ming a complicated gaze. He did not intend to fight him. Based on his judgment, even if he fought with everything he had, he would still not be Su Ming's opponent.
He had spared no pains, even self-destructing his body and killing the twenty something people in the area to show off his strongest divine ability, and he did so not to fight against Su Ming… but to survive.
He gritted his teeth and struck the center of his brows with his right hand. Immediately, his soul turned into a Brand. It rose up and flashed a few times before charging towards Su Ming. He caught it, and with a squeeze had it fuse into his palm.
The young man in the Constellation Robe wrapped his fist in his palm and said darkly, "Master, while our levels of cultivation are quite high, Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu are more important. The both of them are skilled in the Art of Runes. They were the main overseers of all the Runes in the Immortals' Union. The thirteen shooting stars were created by them while we were the ones who prepared the materials,"
"That's right. In fact, the two of them were the ones who discovered some of the weaker areas in the whirlwind. If we let the two of them escape, they will definitely bring us endless troubles in the future…"
A glint shone in the eyes of the old man named Miao, and he glared at the wedded couple who had already run into the whirlwind.
Su Ming did not speak. He lifted his right hand and pointed at the white ring behind him. Immediately, it let out a buzz and moved, but it did not rush forward. Instead, it swiftly expanded, growing to ten thousand feet, one hundred thousand feet, and even larger. With a bang, the ring grew to a size where its edge could no longer be seen. It still continued spreading outwards though, and wherever it went, even the whirlwind disintegrated with a shudder.
This scene stunned the old man named Miao and the young man in the Constellation Robe. Their pupils shrank, and great shock as well as fear took over their hearts.
In just the span of a few breaths, the galaxy rumbled, and a white thread charged towards them from the distance. When it approached them, the old man named Miao and the young man in the Constellation Robe saw with their own eyes that the white thread was the shrunk white ring.
Within it was a gigantic meteor, and it was… the one that the wedded couple had formed and used to flee just then. No matter how the meteor struggled, it could not rush out of the ring. It could only be dragged back continuously as the ring shrank.
Just a few breaths of time passed. Su Ming did not do anything, simply standing in his original spot when the meteor appeared in front of him. It had already stopped fighting back, abandoning the pointless struggle. The meteor disassembled itself, and the wedded couple appeared inside it. Their faces were pale, and when they looked towards Su Ming, their gazes were filled with fear.
Su Ming cast a glance at the both of them, and his voice was flat when he spoke.
"One, two…"
Those were meaningless words, but the numbers caused the wedded couple's expression to change drastically. They cast each other a glance before gritting their teeth and raising their hands to strike the center of their brows. Immediately, their souls gathered together to form a Brand, and they flew out of their foreheads to charge towards Su Ming.
Clearly, they had already seen the old man named Miao and the young man in the Constellation Robe being spared after they delivered their souls.
Su Ming raised his right hand and swung it, taking away the Brand of the wedded couple's souls. His expression remained calm when he lifted his head to cast a glance at the area above him.
"My fellow Daoist, how long are you going to keep watching? Do you truly want me to bring you down?"
When he said that, the four people immediately felt their hearts tremble and lifted their heads to look above. They had not noticed anything strange with the galaxy up there.
But as Su Ming's words reverberated in space, a dry cough came from above. Soon after, distortions appeared before their eyes. A white-haired old man with an awkward expression on his face showed up. There was a guarded look in his eyes, hiding the fear brought by the shock of all Su Ming had done after waking up.
"Old Monster Wen!" The old man named Miao was the first to recognize the person's identity. His words were practically hissed through his teeth.
Chen Wen, too, glared at the old man with white hair and spoke up. "Master, this is the person who sold us the information of a cultivator recuperating in this place. He is the reason why we offended you just now."
"It's a misunderstanding. This is a misunderstanding. Fellow Daoist, please listen to me. In truth, this is…" The expression of the old man with white hair known as Old Monster Wen immediately change. He spoke quickly, but the next moment, his eyes shone, and before Su Ming could attack, he took action first.
He swung his arm, and a vast, mighty pressure flew out from his sleeve. At the same time, a dark light shone. It did not go forth to attack Su Ming, but instead, swept up the old man to flee into the distance.
Clearly, he was shocked by Su Ming's strength and was forced to change his plans. He did not dare to negotiate and only wanted to leave the place as quickly as possible.
Chapter 1157: Finger
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming's eyes shone when he cast a glance at the dark light that Old Monster Wen had flung out from his sleeve. It had surrounded dark light his back, and a faint presence that Su Ming doubted others could notice spread out from it.
'The presence of an Ancient God. Interesting.'
Su Ming swung his arm, revealing his right hand, and pointed at space. With his move, the galaxy shuddered. The space where Old Monster Wen stood instantly looked like it was about to crumble, but also like it had frozen. At the same time, black light shone in the frozen galaxy. The Light of Extreme Darkness was brought out of Su Ming's hand, and its might was much greater than when the bald crane had used it.
Old Monster Wen let out a shrill scream of pain. He moved back swiftly, but he felt like he was deep in mud. In a panic, he raised his right hand and swung it. With a roar, a huge item instantly flew out from his storage bag.
It was… a finger!
It was also several hundreds of feet big. It was filled with an ancient air, and it looked like an antique. At the instant it appeared, it pointed at space and the Light of Extreme Darkness as if it was controlled by the old man.
Booming sounds reverberated in the air. The power which froze space instantly shattered, and even some of the Light of Extreme Darkness dissipated. A gap was formed, allowing the old man to pass through in a flash. He was just about to disappear.
"An Ancient God's finger!"
Su Ming's pupils shrank. This time, he did not hesitate the tiniest bit. He charged forward and appeared right in front of the old man. Then, he raised his right hand to strike him.
Old Monster Wen growled and formed a seal with his hands before coughing up a mouthful of blood. It fused into the Ancient God's finger, and it let out a buzz. Its aura grew, then like a huge stick, it went to strike Su Ming with loud bangs in its wake.
At the same time, a pure wave of Ancient God's power erupted from the finger and charged towards Su Ming. Even if the Ancient God had died, the power in the finger was enough to intimidate Almighties in Mastery Realm and make them not dare to fight against it head on.
However, Su Ming remained calm. At the instant the Ancient God's finger came towards him, he flipped his right hand over and used the back of his hand to touch it. His body moved a few steps back due to the force, and he flipped his right hand over. Then, as if he had borrowed the finger's strength and fused it into his own palm before he added in his own cultivation base to it, he struck with his palm.
Loud rumbled deafened the ears, and the old man coughed up blood while staggering thousands of feet back. His face was pale, and when he looked at Su Ming, his body suddenly jolted.
This was because he saw that Su Ming had not come for him. The man patted the Ancient God's finger, and it disappeared without a trace as if he had taken it forcefully. After that, Su Ming turned to the old man with the ghost of a smile on his lips and a sinister malicious air about him.
"Senior, please calm down and hear me out. I know the spot where the giant's from the Immortals' Union corpse lies, but my level of cultivation was not high enough, so I could only obtain one of his fingers. That is why I have been searching for those whose minds are especially strong to obtain the giant's corpse together.
"Several months ago, I noticed the ripples of your power on that planet, which was why I wanted to test how great was your level of cultivation. My intention was to work with you.
"Senior, you might have been careful while practicing your cultivation, but my divine sense is different from that of a normal person. I do not investigate based on the ripples of a cultivation base, but sense the flames of life in the galaxy, which was why I was able to sense you."
The old man said quickly told Su Ming everything. He did not dare to hide a single thing from him. Su Ming's strength was so great that he was already immensely regretting his decision to provoke him. He knew that if he still intended to hide the truth, he would definitely die in this place.
"If you require it, I can lead the way and bring you to the place where the giant's corpse is. Let me use this as a deed to redeem myself. Senior, please give me this chance so that I may compensate for the agitation caused by my provocation." The old man's face was pale. His heart raced in anxiety as he bowed deeply.
Su Ming cast the old man a glance. He did not speak, but turned around and looked towards the pit which he had used as his isolation ground. A complicated look showed up in his eyes when he looked at the spot where Bai Feng had been.
It was an empty place. Clearly, Bai Feng had died a long time ago, and her corpse had turned to dust.
The dream of Dark Mountain, the promise made in the snow, and the sigh that wandered about for one thousand years had come to an end at that moment. Su Ming sighed softly, and the complicated look on his face disappeared.
The nine reincarnations could be said to have allowed him to fulfill the promise, and that he had brought about an ending to their relationship. Since it was over, Su Ming would no longer force himself to persist in anything regarding it. The enmity between him and Bai Feng had come to an end.
He raised his right hand, and the white ring approached him with a hum. When it shrank, it fit itself on his finger, turning into a real ring. A feeling as if he could not be separated from the ring rose in Su Ming's heart. There were links of fate between them, and they were the knots formed during the cycles of life and death. No one could untie them.
The spirit in the ring had also caused the knot to become something eternal. Perhaps it had become different than before, because now… it had Bai Feng's soul.
With a swing of an arm, a black robe appeared around Su Ming's body. A black hood covered his face. Everyone could only see… a black-robed man.
The instant Su Ming put on the black robe, Miao Feng's pupils shrank, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Shock appeared in his eyes again. Since he was a member of the Immortals' Union, there was no way he would not recognize a black-robed man like Su Ming.
"I, Miao Feng, member of the Tower Rememberers in the Immortals' Union, greet Master. Greetings, Grand Immortal!'
The young man in the Constellation Robe had a slightly complicated look on his face, but he soon lowered his head to bow respectfully as well.
"I, Dao Zhong, member of Morning Dao Sect's branch family greet my master. Greetings, Grand Immortal!"
"We, Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu of the Rune Runagates in the Immortals' Union, greet our master. Greetings, Grand Immortal Daoist Zhang!" Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu had a dazed look on their faces the moment they saw Su Ming in different clothes. They cast each other a glance, then lowered their heads in anguish and bowed sincerely.
They had… met Zhang Ji Jun before, which was why their words as they greeted Su Ming were different from the others. They could tell that all the black-robed people who appeared in the Immortals' Union were this person's subordinates.
They had only seen his black robes before and not the face, which was why it had been difficult for them to recognize him. However, the mighty pressure from Su Ming was the exact same as that of the black-robed Daoist Zhang whom even the higher ups in the Immortals' Union had to be polite towards.
Old Monster Wen's expression turned paler at that moment. As he stared at the black-robed Su Ming, he groaned in his heart. He had not expected that this person would be an Immortal of the Higher Realm; he had actually told him he was aiming to plunder the corpse of the giant who was also an Immortal of the Higher Realm.
"How did you manage to move about in the whirlwind?" Su Ming asked in a hoarse voice. At that moment, his ancient presence carried with it a mysterious air. It caused all those who looked towards him feel their hearts tremble.
"I… Since my divine sense is different from the others, that is why… I can see the trajectory of the destructive power in the whirlwind. It's because of this that I can move through it and avoid the destructive power. It might be slow, but it is better than being trapped in a place, like the others," Old Monster Wen quickly explained. His expression was one of immense respect.
"Come on. Lead the way." Su Ming swung his arm, and a faint white ripple spread out from his ring to surround an area of around three hundred feet around him.
Old Monster Wen hesitated in his heart, but did not dare think too much about it. He summoned all his courage and stepped into the area of three hundred feet belonging to Su Ming, then bowed towards the hostile looking Miao Feng and the others before he began leading the way in low whispers.
Su Ming's eyes flashed while hidden beneath the black hood. Immediately, the white ripple charged forward. When it passed by the thirteen meteors, they were instantly retrieved by him. With a whoosh, the white ripple charged towards the whirlwind. Wherever it went, the whirlwind would fall back. Even the destructive power of the World in it would disintegrate once it touched the ripple.
"How many survivors like all of you still exist in True Morning Dao World?" Su Ming asked hoarsely while sitting in the white ripple.
Miao Feng and the rest stayed quiet, so Chen Wen, who was highly skilled in the Art of Runes, said in a low voice, "We can only live in a small corner and cannot venture too far away. Fellow Daoist Feng should know the details about this."
Miao Feng remained silent for a moment before he said softly, "Only one in one thousand could survive… I've gone to many places during the past ten months, and I've only seen two slightly larger gathering spots. The others are mostly scattered… Plenty of people died in the disaster or the lawless chaos after it."
Old Monster Wen cast Su Ming a glance and spoke of everything that he knew. "The Immortals' Union has turned into complete ruins. All the entrances to Morning Dao Sect have crumbled. No one knows what is happening inside, but based on what I could sense from the divine sense I sent in, there's a thick wave of death there. Perhaps… a drastic change had also happened in Morning Dao Sect…"
"Morning Dao Sect…" Su Ming's eyes fell slightly under the black hood. The moment the Seed of Life Extermination flew back, he could guess that Su Xuan Yi began a bloodbath in Morning Dao Sect.
It would not be out of Su Ming's expectations if everything in that place had been reduced to ruins. He was only worried… about Xu Hui. Did she die in the disaster or was she fortunate enough to escape from it? He sighed in his heart, and that sigh turned into a sharp stab of pain that made him fall silent.
Old Monster Wen hesitated for a moment before he suddenly said, "Those who could survive are definitely not weaklings. With your power, you could bring these people together and form a new sect…"
Su Ming lifted his head and cast a cold glance at him. When the old man's heart trembled, Su Ming slowly nodded.
He knew some of the things that the people here did not know. For example, that the whirlwind surrounding True Morning Dao World would not remain there forever. It would disappear after some time. This might happen soon, but it might also take a long time. Even so, the longest stretch of time before it disappeared would not be too long.
Once the whirlwind disappeared, Dark Dawn and Saint Defier would descended through the gap. At that time… what awaited Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos would be a bloodbath.