Chapter 834 - Cutting Down the Self
s.h.i.+ Hao was truly stunned. How could this individual’s appearance be the same as his own?
If that was all, than that was one thing, but even his precious techniques were the same, able to display similar methods. This definitely left him greatly shocked, causing great waves to stir within his heart!
This person’s hair was entirely ash gray, an he was already in his declining years. His body was pierced through by this dazzling white halberd blade, black blood flowing all over the ground. There was a wave of decaying aura.
s.h.i.+ Hao’s heart was beating crazily. Was his later self going to look like this? When he looked at the other party who was nailed like this onto the ground, he felt a chill run through his mind.
What was going on? This strange change was full of mysteries.
s.h.i.+ Hao stared at this person, his clothing from the Immortal Ancient Era, full of an aura of pa.s.sed time, carrying an ancient feeling of great changes. This was especially the case with that bronze short spear that penetrated through the s.p.a.ce between his brows and emerged from the back of the head. It was incomparably striking.
“Does this world… have reincarnation?” s.h.i.+ Hao’s voice was trembling slightly.
Could this person be related to him? He was truly too similar! If not for his pupils becoming a deathly gray, even their temperament seemed similar. How could they resemble each other so greatly?
At this moment, s.h.i.+ Hao unexpectedly felt a mournful feeling. If there really was reincarnation, was this… himself? Was the elder from Immortal Ancient Era who met such a sorrowful end him?
When his mind reached this point, his heart began to pound. He was shaking, and a wave of sadness came over him. This type of declining end was too miserable and bleak!
From his clothing and weapon, this person looked extremely ancient, and might truly be someone from the Immortal Ancient Era. Was there really reincarnation? s.h.i.+ Hao didn’t dare imagine what it could be like.
“If there was a previous incarnation, was I truly this lamentable?”
Anyone who saw this type of him would feel sadness.
An old man, ash-colored hair scattered about, eyes dim, body dripping with black blood, something extremely terrifying had clearly happened that caused him to be in such miserable circ.u.mstances.
And now, he was even killed by someone who had the same appearance as him!
When he thought up to this point, s.h.i.+ Hao felt rather mournful inside. How could this be? This truly made him feel dispirited.
He was a bit absent-minded. He thought of too many things. Reincarnation, final destination, last great era, the present world…
Suddenly, he snapped back to reality. What was going on? His dao heart was st.u.r.dy and immovable, and even if he encountered this type of lamentable event, he shouldn’t let his mind waver during a battle.
s.h.i.+ Hao woke up. He felt like his own mood had been influenced by some type of mysterious power. Otherwise, he shouldn’t be in this type of absentminded state. At his cultivation realm, his emotions shouldn’t be fluctuating so greatly.
In that instant, s.h.i.+ Hao’s eyes became clear, his dao heart steady. His primordial spirit shone, his forehead s.h.i.+ning brilliantly.
It was precisely at this moment that he noticed the one pierced by the great halberd’s entire body was interweaving with bone texts. That was the Reincarnation technique s.h.i.+ning and on the verge of forming, about to erupt.
This type of symbol was extremely resplendent, immediately rus.h.i.+ng out. It was a bit different from the splendid precious technique s.h.i.+ Hao displayed. The light this person released was dark and terrifying.
This was dark light, and right now, it was firing out expanse after expanse, bringing with it a great shower of brilliance. Of course, those light specks were all black, dark and gloomy, as well as possessing a type of corrupt aura.
“Break!”
s.h.i.+ Hao shouted loudly. This was his innate precious technique, so no one was more clear on how terrifying and difficult it was to defeat than himself. However, he also knew how to deal with it.
He used his bone texts to deal with it, breaking it down through focused action.
Moreover, he immediately used the strange ability Magic Immunity to protect himself, allowing the Reincarnation technique to land fruitlessly on his body.
Sure enough, the two great methods were effective. He directly blocked the Reincarnation technique.
Immediately afterwards, s.h.i.+ Hao’s eyes became cold. He took action ruthlessly. Bone texts interweaved, and from his body, all types of symbols rushed out, forming divine swords, dao bells, divine paG.o.das, and other things.
Moreover, he circulated the True Primordial Record, turning the rotten into the miraculous, suppressing outwards with full force.
Hong!
This strike caused this creature that was already cracking apart to break, splitting from the waist into two pieces.
This existence on the ground didn’t have any aura of life, no blood energy fluctuations, and even less emotions to speak of, but at this moment, he spoke.
“You… killed me?”
Black blood flowed out from his mouth, his eyes growing dim, his gaze scattering. His voice was extremely ancient, carrying a type of sadness.
s.h.i.+ Hao’s gaze became calm. He lowered his head and looked down on this individual, pulling out the halberd with a peaceful expression.
“Why?” Within the muddled eyes were perplexity. His lips were black, carrying an aura of decay as he asked.
Chi!
Suddenly, s.h.i.+ Hao raised the great halberd and forcefully hacked downwards ruthlessly.
In that instant, the dazzling white halberd blade was like a comet flying across the heavens, illuminating the great earth, as well as illuminating s.h.i.+ Hao’s eyes. He was resolute and firm, without any hesitation. His will was steady like steel.
Pu!
A light sound rang through the air. He hacked this person apart, cleaving him vertically. The black colored blood splashed far into the distance, landing on the bluestone path. It was a ghastly sight.
“Who is it that killed me, and who am I?”
That shadow released a final voice, and then no longer moved. In addition, his body began to decay, creating a large pool of black liquid.
s.h.i.+ Hao remained calm as he stood there, not saying anything for a long time.
“He was killed just like that. However, he was the exact same as you, don’t tell me there really is some kind of relations.h.i.+p?” The Divine Striking Stone said.
It saw everything clearly from the distance, feeling that the events that took place today really were too strange and ominous. There was no way to explain any of it.
“Just a strange change. Forget about being a corpse that is the same as myself, even if it was a living person that is exactly the same as myself, it still wouldn’t move my dao heart.”
s.h.i.+ Hao’s eyes were extremely clear, his dao heart unwavering.
“You… are you really not scared of there being some type of relations.h.i.+p?” The Divine Striking Stone asked.
“I don’t believe in reincarnation, and I believe even less that there is some relations.h.i.+p between him and myself. It is just a strange change, just some trickery, yet it wants to disturb my mind?” s.h.i.+ Hao raised his head and looked into the void.
He stared at that ancient lamp that suspended a hundred zhang above, as if it was a landmark.
s.h.i.+ Hao’s body erupted with resplendent light. Tens of thousands of streaks of lightning surged around him, condensing into a lightning spear. He then flung it out fiercely.
Dang!
This spear shot down the gloomy ancient lamp in the sky in one hit, causing it to release an expanse of ghost flames.
“Kill!”
s.h.i.+ Hao rushed upwards. With the void halberd in hand, he hacked down this lamp. Then, he erupted with everything he had, using all of his power.
With a peng sound, this lamp blasted apart, turning into symbol fragments.
s.h.i.+ Hao didn’t stop here, instead guiding over a thousand and four hundred streaks of fiery light. The ancient paths lit up one after another, illuminating this place with holy and auspicious light.
Those fiery lights gathered, forming a furnace that wrapped around all of these fragments, ultimately burning them all clean, turning them into nothingness. Not a single symbol remained.
Then, he landed on the ground.
That corpse’s flesh was still decaying. White bones could be seen, the black blood on the ground trickling about.
As time went by, the black blood dried up, and the white bones lost l.u.s.ter. Eventually, they all unexpectedly shattered, completely turning into bone powder.
As for the flesh and black blood, they no longer existed either. Following a light breeze, they were all blown away like dust.
s.h.i.+ Hao wanted to obtain that bronze spear, but in the end, as soon as it left the ground, it crumbled apart inch by inch, turning into bronze rust that scattered onto the ground.
This was the case with that short spear impaled within the strange being’s head as well. It directly turned into powder as if eroded by the wind, similarly blown away like dust.
“Under the force of time, everything should have long become one with the earth, yet he managed to retain his body all this time, only returning to the world after being broken now.” s.h.i.+ Hao said softly.
He now believed even more firmly that this was a corpse left behind from the Immortal Ancient Era.
Just like before, he guided over the bluestone paths’ dao flames, burning all of the dust, particles and everything clean, erasing them from existence to prevent something unexpected from happening.
“There is only a single ‘me’ in this world. My dao heart will not be shaken.” s.h.i.+ Hao said.
“You actually made it through, successfully killing him…” The Void Sky Divine Vine was trembling with fear. It reached out its head from behind the Divine Striking Stone. When it was now sure that the ominous events had pa.s.sed, only then did it release a sigh of relief.
“There are different strange changes towards those of different cultivation realms right?...” s.h.i.+ Hao thought to himself.
The Void Sky Divine Vine continuously nodded its head. “In the past, Five Crown King also came to a similar conclusion. He felt that there were some type of hidden plot, some rules, that there are living creatures and great terrors.”
s.h.i.+ Hao silently thought to himself for a long time. He didn’t feel fear, and instead, his eyes became even more firm and persistent. “I am looking forward to seeing what will appear next time!”
He began to nurse his injuries, quietly recovering.
Just now, it was as if he was fighting against himself. It was too difficult, actually fighting for more than two thousand exchanges. His arms were about to break, the area between his thumb and forefinger split apart. Large amounts of blood had been spat out.
A day and night later, s.h.i.+ Hao opened his eyes. He didn’t waste his time, continuing to attack at the breakthrough point, guiding a thousand four hundred streaks of fiery light to burn his true self.
This was a life and death grind. As the fiery lights increased, the bluestone paths lighting up one after another, s.h.i.+ Hao’s path became more and more difficult.
This time, he almost burned himself into a cripple. A thousand four hundred spheres of light appeared in his body, all of them containing symbols and interweaving with bone texts. They were forging his flesh, burning his primordial spirit.
He barely made it through. When everything concluded, s.h.i.+ Hao was laying on the ground while facing the sun, not budging an inch. He didn’t look like a human anymore at all.
If not for the piece of divine medicine in his mouth, he might have directly died in meditation.
“Youngster, can you not scare us like this? Cultivation shouldn’t be carried out like this! You are burning away your life! Don’t continue this anymore, this path is too dangerous!” The Divine Striking Stone said.
Unforeseen events had even happened to those of ancient times who continued like this. None of them had good conclusions.
“It’s not a big deal.” s.h.i.+ Hao stood up. As the divine medicine dissolved, he gradually recovered. After taking a long time to recover, his blood energy became exuberant again.
Soon after, s.h.i.+ Hao began to attack at the limit again, not willing to stop. He even felt that something might be different once he ignited the one thousand five hundredth flame.
It was because he was reaching the halfway point of the three thousand bluestone paths.
“The strange changes are more and more vicious each time. If it comes again, you most likely won’t be able to survive. Don’t continue trodding down this path already!” The Void Sky Divine Vine warned.
“From what Five Crown King experienced, after the two strange changes I’ve already experienced, there should be a gap between when the next one will appear.” s.h.i.+ Hao said.
He insisted on igniting one thousand five hundred flames, because this was half of the total amount. He felt that it would allow his strength to increase a bit further, his path to divinity becoming even more st.u.r.dy. With an increase in strength, he might be able to deal with the strange changes easier.
Fiery light surged, engulfing the nine heavens. This type of scene was extremely shocking.
This time, s.h.i.+ Hao’s flesh was almost completely destroyed. Countless symbols appeared, flickering and interweaving on his bones and withered body.
Apart from this, his primordial spirit shrunk, becoming even more condensed and resplendent, releasing holy light within the fiery radiance.
His brilliant primordial spirit shrunk about fifty percent from its original fist sized self. This wasn’t a weakening of his cultivation, but rather condensation, refinement, the result of improvement.
It became more and more translucent, almost like a crystal.
His primordial spirit was becoming stronger.
However, this time, it was more dangerous than anything he had faced in the past. This was a type of torture. The thousand five hundred streaks of fiery light burned his body, half of the bluestone paths ignited, illuminating the heavens above and earth below.
s.h.i.+ Hao was almost burned to ruin. When everything ended, he clenched his teeth and sat down, forcefully enduring the urge to faint.
Even with the divine medicine, he still used more than ten days, and only then did he slowly recover.
He was now truly different. After s.h.i.+ Hao recovered, when he operated magical force, divine multicolored light surged. Mists of radiance shone hazily, accompanied with a few irregular scenes.
This was not released from his body, but rather something the world produced and displayed for him.
s.h.i.+ Hao felt a powerful wave of strength swirling within his body. He revealed a look of shock. He already reached the mid stage of the Divine Flame Realm!
“What a pity, the divine medicine was completely used up.” He released a light sigh.
Only a small piece of the vine was left of the Void Sky Divine Vine. It couldn’t be eaten any further, or else its foundational energy would be greatly injured.
“I should take a look around the outside world. I wonder if Lan Yichen and Luo Dao found a few rare great medicines.”
When it heard him say this, the Void Sky Divine Vine completely relaxed, releasing the apprehension it felt inwardly.
“I should give this new power a try as well, see the results of my isolation cultivation.” s.h.i.+ Hao said.
He also wanted to know what happened in Immortal Ancient after such a long time, what kind of natural luck appeared, as well as if those ancient freaks displayed any activity.
“Only, the path ahead won’t be easy…” s.h.i.+ Hao frowned. The next strange change was definitely not far off.
At the same time, the consumption of this path was enormous as well. He already used up an entire stalk of divine medicine, so what was he going to use from here on forth? It gave him quite the headache.
Suddenly, s.h.i.+ Hao thought of something. He asked the Void Sky Divine Vine, “I previously saw you turn into a snow white tortoise that carried a white clothed woman. What kind of medicine is that? Did you see it before?”
“I did see it before. That is a long life medicine that had survived from the Immortal Ancient Era. it previously belonged to an immortal.” The Void Sky Divine Vine nodded.
s.h.i.+ Hao was immediately interested, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with brilliance.
“There is a mysterious medicinal garden here with all types of divine medicines, all of them promising longevity. For example, the Vermilion Fruit, Qilin Tree, and others, as well as the Long Live Panacea…”