"This person intentionally said such words because he is a spy from another tribe. He is here to sow discord between Puqiang and Han Mountain, and this alone is a crime punishable by death! I will personally end this person’s life, and will agree to the continuation of the challenge!"
As the old and aged voice of the Elder of Puqiang Tribe reverberated in the air, the person who was enveloped by the black mist above Han Mountain City burst apart with a bang and a shrill cry, turning into pieces of flesh and blood. Before he even fell down, he turned into wisps of black mist that disappeared into the air.
Wind was blowing, and it took away the stench of blood that filled the air in the city, causing the angered people in Han Mountain City to gradually calm down.
Su Ming stood on the seventh section of the Chain and turned around to look at Han Mountain City, then he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply in the city’s direction.
When he bowed, he immediately caused the crowd who became calm in Han Mountain City to let out shocked cries once again.
"Sir, you have to finish walking through the entire Chain! Walk through the ninth section and fight for all us outsiders in Han Mountain!"
"Go on! We’re all watching you! Please, walk forward!"
"Go to Puqiang Mountain and complete your challenge! Enter Freezing Sky Clan and give us fellow outsiders hope!"
The voices that rose one after another were different from before. At that moment, all their words were filled with encouragement and hope. To them, the challenger, Su Ming, was no longer a stranger. He was the symbol of their hope and the representative of all the outsiders in Han Mountain.
"Brother, you have to complete the challenge! Once you return, I will prepare a feast. Let’s hook arms and have a toast!"
Nan Tian’s boisterous voice reverberated in the air. The admiration in his eyes had seeped into his invitation as he spoke.
"Count me in!"
Leng Ying’s face was still cold and detached, but there was the ghost of a smile on his lips at that moment.
"Don’t exclude me in this. Brother Nan, you’ll have to bring out the drunken flower wine you have this time."
When Ke Jiu Si’s laughter appeared, it caused the voices coming out from within Han Mountain City to be stronger.
"That can be easily arranged! I’ll definitely take it out!" Nan Tian laughed heartily.
Xuan Lun’s face turned darker. He stood in the distance and did not say a word.
Su Ming heard all of their words. He lifted his head and looked at Han Mountain for a long while before he turned around and walked towards the seventh stone pillar at the end of the seventh section of the Chain.
He no longer saw his elder on the Chain. The girl that was hidden deep within his heart too, did not appear.
Su Ming did not want to think what this signified. He could not tell himself calmly that everything on the Chain was fake. He was no longer certain.
Amidst the discussions and excited hollers from outside, Su Ming moved forward silently until he completed the seventh section of the Chain and stood on the seventh stone pillar.
At that moment, the sky was starting to brighten up. He could see dark clouds still covering most parts of the sky, including the light, casting the world in dimness.
"The eighth section…"
Su Ming did not stop to rest on the seventh stone pillar. He lifted his foot instead and stepped on the eighth section of the Chain. He still did not see the girl he hoped to see the moment he stepped on the Chain. It was clouded before him, but he was already very close to Puqiang Mountain.
He could even see the people on Puqiang Mountain glaring at him coldly.
Su Ming felt the pressure formed by age and time when he walked on the eighth section on the Chain. It was the feeling of a lot of his life force being sucked away with each step he took. Even if he circulated his Qi, it was becoming harder for him to persist as he walked on.
Fatigue filled Su Ming’s entire body. Once he moved 100 feet forward, his breathing was ragged and harsh. He could even feel age sweeping by on his body in his fatigue, taking away his life force, his strength, his vitality.
It was as if he was aging slowly in the face of time. In fact, he had the feeling that once he became old, he would turn into ashes and scatter away.
‘Is this the mystery of the eighth section of the Chain? Time is pa.s.sing so quickly that before anyone can embrace it, it’s already over.’
Su Ming continued moving forward. He had no idea how much time pa.s.sed. When the world gradually escaped from darkness, he looked at his hand. Wrinkles had appeared on his skin, and he no longer looked like a young man, but an old person.
At that moment, he was only half way through the eighth section of the Chain. The other half left was swaying in the air, and seemed like it was rocking away time, making people feel that they could not keep time by their side even if they noticed it leaving.
As the world brightened up and morning arrived, the Elder of Puqiang Tribe and the others glared coldly at Su Ming, who was already very close to them on the Chain. Their gazes turned chilling.
Su Ming lifted his head to look at Puqiang Mountain, which was lightening up in the sun. He saw the cold gazes and fell into pensive silence for a moment.
‘I can’t go over… If I can’t cancel out the power of time, even if I walk to the end of the eighth section, I’ll still lose all of my life force and die.
‘Then I might as well… not hide anymore!’
A bright sparkle appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He slowly lifted his head to look at the cloud covered sky, and blood veins surfaced on his body rapidly.
They appeared first on his face. In an instant, many blood veins appeared on the face that he hid underneath the hood. The blood veins were like a totem that formed a strange picture.
At the same time, a shocking, powerful presence erupted forth from his body. The moment the presence appeared, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to change, showing signs of tumbling backwards.
The Elder and the others on Puqiang Mountain were the first to notice this. As the Elder’s pupils shrank and the expression of the man who looked like a mountain of flesh changed instantly, all the people on Puqiang Mountain felt a wave of restlessness come over them that stemmed from the blood veins in their bodies. It was an impulse that they could not control!
Under the robes, Su Ming’s upper torso and his arms were covered in many blood veins in an instant, and the astonis.h.i.+ng presence continued growing. A much stronger presence erupted forth with a loud cras.h.!.+
Having his blood veins circulate in his body while they were hidden and having them circulate while they were completely manifested on his body was different. If he circulated them within his body, he would be using his own Qi, but if he manifested them on his body, then his Qi would be connected to the heavens and earth, and the strongest power he could muster would burst forth.
Su Ming had concealed his blood veins within his body all this while. Right then, he no longer hid them, but chose to completely manifest them!
As the astonis.h.i.+ng Qi within his body grew stronger, cries of surprise and uproars resounded from Puqiang Mountain. On the mountain, besides the Elder, even the man who looked like a mountain of flesh was also in a state of shock. At that moment, the same memory appeared in their minds – the incredible event that caused the weather to change a few months ago in Han Mountain!
The Elder of Puqiang Tribe may have seemed calm, but there was a fierce storm raging in his heart, in a manner that was not at all weaker than the wrath he showed the people just now.
"He… He is…"
Disbelief appeared in the Elder’s eyes. There was even a hint of shock within them. He suddenly realized that while he had already viewed this person highly since the beginning, but now, it turned out that it was not enough, he still underestimated him.
Fear rose inside the Elder of Puqiang Tribe. He suddenly understood that Puqiang’s greatest mistake was not in inciting the wrath of the crowd in Han Mountain, or Lake of Colors and Tranquil East, but that they did not see through this person!
"Completion of the Blood Solidification Realm…"
The Elder of Puqiang Tribe staggered a few steps back, and his face turned pale.
The moment he mumbled out his words, Su Ming’s legs were covered by dense blood veins. Even if his blood veins were hidden under the robes, a power of Qi so incredible it shook the heavens and earth was surging forth from his body. It made the color of the sky change, the clouds tumble, made the wind in the area still. The world turned dark!
Su Ming lifted his head. At that moment, the dark clouds were tumbling in the sky, just like the strange phenomenon that had happened a few months ago. The deity statue of Awakening was about to descend upon Han Mountain once again!
At the same time, red lines appeared out of thin air above Su Ming. The red lines were mere illusions, but the moment they appeared, they started gathering together rapidly. In a few moments, a gigantic figure of hundreds of feet appeared in the air above Su Ming.
That person did not have a face, only the contour of its countenance. The contour was formed by the 979 blood veins. The moment it appeared, the presence of a Berserker who attained completion during the Blood Solidification Realm on Su Ming reached its peak!
"It’s… him! Completion in the Blood Solidification Realm… 979 blood veins, only one more, and he’ll attain the great completion that’s only spoken in legends… Such a person is challenging Puqiang Tribe’s Chain, and we even wanted to plot against him just now…"
On Puqiang Mountain, when the man who looked like a mountain of flesh saw the giant formed from blood veins hovering above Su Ming, he coughed out a mouthful of blood. Shock replaced all other emotions on his face. The others behind him were all dumbfounded, their expressions saying that they could not conceive what was happening before them.
Yan Luan sucked in a breath on Lake of Colors Mountain. She was shaken, and shock appeared on her face. She did not expect that the Chain’s challenger would be the person who appeared a few months ago!
"I can’t believe… it’s him!"
Beside her, a healthy red hue replaced the lethargic look on the old woman’s face. She looked at Su Ming and at the person above him, and a brightness that was never seen before appeared in her eyes.
Tranquil East Mountain burst into an earth shattering uproar. The Elder of Tranquil East instinctively took a few steps back. His expression changed and eventually settled on shock. If he was in this state, then it was even more so for Fang Shen, who stood beside him. Fang Shen was already completely stunned.
Only Han Cang Zi appeared excited as she trembled.
Han Mountain City fell into momentary silence before shouts filled with excitement and surprise broke out from within the city. The manifested blood veins on Su Ming’s body stirred up a drastic change that made them all mystified.
Han Fei Zi trembled and her breathing quickened. Nan Tian, Ke Jiu Si, and Leng Ying were stunned, and only wrapped their heads around what had happened after a long while. Their gazes as they looked towards Su Ming were no longer of admiration, but respect!
"979 blood veins, he just needs one more, and… he’ll attain… great completion! If he Awakens during great completion, his power can rival those in the middle stage of Awakening, and he can even hold his own with an ordinary Berserker in the later stage of the Awakening Realm!"
"This person… if he Awakens during great completion, then the strongest in Han Mountain City and the three tribes will be him. He’ll be able to ma.s.sacre an entire tribe on his own if he so wishes!"
"I know why he didn’t choose to Awaken a few months ago. He wants to manifest that one more blood vein. I’m guessing that he chose to challenge the Chains of Han Mountain to use that as a shock to gain one more blood vein!"