Chapter 40 – Si Kong
That young man looked to be only in his teens, but his body was well built, comparable to Lei Chen, his hand wielding a long spear, that spear was only half a Zhang long but it’s entire body was black, and had a terrifying cold emitting from it, yet within was also a small golden l.u.s.ter.
(TLN: 1 Zhang is about 3.33m)
More importantly, the spear did not seem to be made of stone, rather it was made of some material Su Ming had never before seen, as he laid eyes on the spear in the distance, he felt his heartbeat race.
Familiar, a very familiar feeling.
But he did not know where this familiarity came from, and within this familiarity was a sense of danger, instinctively Su Ming cleared his mind leaving only his instinctual calm.
“This person is not wearing hide but rather hemp clothes, people who wear these kind of clothes…… should not have a low status in the Wu Long Tribe!”
“I don’t regret going near this Wu Long Tribe!” Su Ming’s eyes flashed , a answer arising in his heart.
“I did not go closer than a thousand Zhang, under normal tribal procedures, for less than three people standing further than a thousand Zhang, it could not be considered to be an act of aggression! I do not have any ill will, my friend is a member of your tribe and I only wish to come visit.” Su Ming ran full speed ahead, using the power of his fourth level of blood condensation he ran on the surface of the snow not leaving a trace as he spoke.
“Oh? If that is so, you are not an enemy so you don’t have to run, why not stop and return to the tribe with me, after investigation the Man-Elder will decide.” A flash of coldness appeared in the youth’s eyes as he spoke, his speed not showing the slightest bit of slowing rather accelerating towards Su Ming, waiting for Su Ming to hesitate.
“I am an outsider, how could I so easily step into your tribe’s grounds.” Su Ming not showing any signs of slowing as he smilingly spoke.
“That makes sense too, but what about this friend of yours, what’s his name?” That youth’s expression was as usual, but his eyes narrowed as he asked while chasing.
“I don’t know her name, I only know that she wears a white dress and is very pretty.” As Su Ming spoke those words while he ran, he turned his head around to take a look.
He saw that after that youth heard his words, his gaze flashed with killing intent, he suddenly understood, initially given his cultivation base and his distance from the tribe, they would not throw that horrifying spear at him, let alone get the attention of the tribe.
All these had to have an explanation, in addition to the fact that the person chasing after him seemed to be of a high status, made Su Ming take a guess in his heart.
“It is indeed him!” That young man reply to Su Ming was a cold humph, seeing his strides widen and his right hand raised as a large amount of black qi coagulate, as it appeared, it actually started to gather on that young man’s spear circling it several times. The spear’s movements was actually being controlled by the black qi which appeared from this youth’s forehead.
Su Ming’s eyes widened, this is a Man-Technique!
From the blood qi being released by that youth, the strength of his cultivation could be clearly felt, and it was even slightly higher than Su Ming’s cultivation, and should be somewhere around the fifth level of blood condensation, only he should have entered that level not long ago and had only a few more blood veins than Su Ming. But compared to him he had a Man-Tool which Su Ming did not own.
“See you in the next life.” That youth was seven hundred or so Zhang away from Su Ming, the two had been running non-stop and the distance from the Wu Long Tribe was already quite far yet the only pursuer was this young man.
As the black qi floated around the spear, the feeling of danger grew within Su Ming. In accordance to the young man’s words and his killing intent, he pointed his right arm at Su Ming and the spear shrouded with black qi whistled towards Su Ming in the air.
As it was advancing, that golden light on the spear flashed as if shattering an illusion, managed to in the blink of an eye appear no more than three hundred Zhang from Su Ming.
“Man Tool!!” Su Ming’s eyes constricted as he recognised the object. The forty-nine blood veins in his body appearing, instantly circulating in Su Ming’s body resulting in Su Ming’s speed and agility rising to his peak, just as the spear was about to hit him, Su Ming quickly ducked as the spear missed his head by seven inches as it landed on the ground with a bang.
This strike, when compared to the previous attack from the tribe was of a completely different level.
If it was another cultivator of the fourth level of blood condensation, they would have found it extremely difficult to dodge, but Su Ming’s forte happened to be his speed and agility. After dodging the attack, without taking another glance at the spear, he hurriedly continued running as a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
For that spear, Su Ming did not think too much about leaving it there, according to the ancient records, only awakened cultivators will be able to make a Man-tool their own, below that level it was impossible.
But for the opponent to so easily throw it at him, making it so easy for him to s.n.a.t.c.h was really strange, unless there was something strange about the spear.
Currently, it was not far from nighttime……
Very quickly that young man had reached the spear,his gaze cold as he frowned with a humph.
As the son of the Wu Long Tribe Patriarch, Si Kong could be considered the elite among those of the younger generation, in addition to the fact that he had the cultivation of a fifth level blood condensation and that he had a Man-Tool, killing a fourth layer of blood condensation pract.i.tioner was easy for him.
But today, being avoided by the opponent made him slightly more vigilant, as he could feel the other party’s caution.
“Pity, if he had the notion of s.n.a.t.c.hing my Man-tool, he would have died on the spot.” Si Kong hesitated slightly, forgetting what he was thinking of, he picked up his long spear and continued his pursuit.
In the forest, Su Ming ran like the wind, his speed increasing as he escaped but the Si Kong behind him too chased relentlessly. The spear that kept flying at him made it even harder for Su Ming to open up his lead, barely keeping his hundred Zhang or so lead, they entered the forest.
But in reality, if Su Ming really wanted to escape, given his knowledge of the terrain and speed, it was not an extremely difficult task. Only, he did not have the intention to increase the distance between them, this was the second time he had ever seen a Man-Tool, and through his own first-hand experience he had a large impulse to obtain that thing.
While escaping, he constantly took note of the time, as he saw the skies darken and the moon gradually appear, Su Ming’s eyes flashed.
“Man-tools are extraordinary objects, the way he had been using it is too simplistic, there must be some other move he is withholding. After not being able to catch up for so long, if I were him, I would too consider increasing the strength in the Man-tool…… But seeing his careful expression, I am guessing this other move must come with some heavy cost. Only, I just don’t know the true strength of his Man-tool.” Su Ming judged.
As Si Kong chased, a sense of irritation did gradually surface, he had never expected that this opponent would be so energetic, seeing the skies turn dark and the fact that he had come a good distance from the tribe without telling anyone prior, going back too late would be troublesome to explain, he clenched his teeth as his right hand formed a claw. For the first time, the whole spear in his hands became shrouded by a black qi.
It was at this point, Su Ming who was a hundred Zhang ahead suddenly spoke.
“Since you have been chasing me so fiercely, you must really want to kill me! But there should not be any enmity between us, if you really want to kill me, can’t you at least give me a reason.”
“Cut the c.r.a.p, you have trespa.s.sed in my Wu Long Tribe! You don’t belong here so I will kill you! Even if your Wu Shan Tribe investigates there will be nothing they can do since it’s all your own fault!” Si Kong coldly laughed, tightly gripping onto his spear as he chased, slowly a chilling sensation flowed into his arm.
Si Kong gloomily harrumphed, as he raised his arm holding the spear, instantly it felt as if strange voices were screaming throughout the jungle as large amounts of black qi rushed out from the spear, seemingly transforming the spear into a black Wu Dragon.
(TL: It is a 黑色的乌龙 which literally meant black coloured black dragon, so I left the Wu (乌) as is, just like with the tribe names for the Wu Shan (乌山) Tribe and the Hei Shan (黑山) Tribe which would both translate as Black Mountain Tribe.)
That Wu Dragon had many claws and a long beard, making it look terrifying.
“Regardless of your ident.i.ty, today you must die!” Si Kong sneered, his expression slightly pale. Since he was displaying the power of the spear, the strain on his body was definitely not small. Just as he was about to throw the spear at Su Ming, Su Ming spoke.
“It is because i rescued Bai Ling!” Su Ming hurriedly uttered.
Hearing that name, Si Kong suddenly shook as the person escaping actually suddenly stopped and turned to look at him with his right hand raised, waving towards him.
A sense of danger he had never felt before suddenly appeared in Si Kong’s eyes, his eyes contracted as his complexion instantly paled, just as he was about to throw the spear, his body trembled as if a cold gust of air blew over him. Standing there looking at Su Ming’s eyes he felt as if he could see the reflection of the Blood Moon in them.
This image of the Blood Moon became all that he could see as his body suddenly hurt, spurting out mouthfuls of blood, his eyes were filled with confusion, bewilderment and shock as his body trembled and he fell headfirst into the snow.
As he fell, the spear in his hands no longer had the image of a Wu Dragon and the black qi faded away, turning back into a seemingly ordinary object as it fell to his side.
On his whole body, fresh blood spewed forth soaking the snow around him, you could see his body entangled by a faint silver wire biting deep into his flesh, just a little more and his whole body would have probably fragmented.
However, he was not actually dead, he was still breathing, only the sudden pain knocked him out.
Su Ming’s heart pounded, fearfully he looked at the spear, the previous display by the other person made Su Ming fear for his life.
“When fighting with someone, you cannot let yourself be distracted, you must never hesitate, and kill the opponent in the fastest way possible. You cannot keep your strongest moves till the end like this.” Su Ming muttered, trying to drill this thought into his memories.
“He had a Man-tool, but this fight, I am lucky to have won it!” Crouching down by the unconscious body, Su Ming hesitated awhile before helping bandage his wounds. He did not want the person to die after all, he did not want to cause trouble for his tribe, and based on his judgement this person was going to wake up soon anyway.
Accompanying his gaze was fanaticism as he looked at the spear, after careful inspection did he notice that on the spear were many hard to see fine spines.
After sometime, Su Ming carefully grabbed a section without spines and hurriedly left.