The battle was practically hanging over Su Ming’s head now!
Two months was incredibly short for him. That amount of time might even naturally pa.s.s while waiting to obtain an epiphany. That amount of time was not enough for him to isolate himself to train either.
Besides, there was not even two months. More accurately, there was only about one and a half month left.
The entire Freezing Sky Clan was in a state of silence akin to the calm before a storm. That was not to say that people were being quiet, it was just a condition formed by everyone’s mental condition. It was a feeling.
All those who were going to enter Sky Mist Shaman Hunt were making their final preparations restlessly. Either they were going to cause a stir during the battle, or they were going to die in foreign lands.
The great Shaman battle that only happened once a century usually ended with blood-soaked Sky Mist City…
Once Su Ming returned to the ninth summit, he made a decision. He would not leave the ninth summit before the start of Sky Mist Shaman Hunt. He would use the remaining time to make his final preparations.
He had too many things to do.
He Feng’s fusion with the Wings of the Moon had reached its critical stage. This was his final transformation. Once he succeeded, He Feng would become a strong guard for Su Ming during Sky Mist Shaman Hunt.
There was also the creation of Spirit Plunder as well. He had enough materials now, so all Su Ming needed was the aura of death, and once he had enough Spirit Plunders on standby, he would be ready for the battle in the land of Shamans.
He also needed to examine the Barren Cauldron he had obtained. After all, if he did not open it, then he would not be able to use it to create other medicinal pills. The battle in Sky Mist this time would last for years or even longer, that was why he needed to prepare a large amount of medicinal pills, or else, once an accident happened, he would die.
There was also the matter about Su Ming’s own training. He had to spend more time on turning the black mist into Runes for his Divine General Armor and make it even st.u.r.dier.
Su Ming also had to train and refine his body even more for when he used Picture Creation’s second Style and activated the Golden Roc’s speed. Only by doing so could he be able to withstand even faster speeds.
He had also sensed the key for him to go from the later stage of the Awakening Realm to great completion in the Awakening Realm. He had to go and retrieve his repaired xun and play the song from Dark Mountain so that his cultivation base could reach great completion in the Awakening Realm.
Su Ming had to prepare all of these things. As for Si Ma Xin… well, he did not have time to care about him. The moment that person had failed to plant the Berserker Seed in him, he had already lost his courage to face Su Ming head on.
‘Bai Su…’ Su Ming sat on the stone platform outside his cave and Bai Su appeared in his head. She started to gradually fade away in his head, and eventually disappeared.
Once Su Ming calmed his mind, he brought out a small white bag from his bosom when it was dark and the moon hung high in the sky. He looked at the bag and sorrow appeared on his face.
It was a deep sorrow that was usually hidden deep within Su Ming’s heart, only revealing itself occasionally, albeit rarely. Every single time that sorrow appeared, the scar on Su Ming’s face would turn as red as blood.
After a long while, Su Ming patted the bag gently. Instantly, a layer of mist spread out from the bag, clinking of chains coming from within it,, and as it did so, a dark red shadow charged out of the mist with a speed so quick it was difficult to see with the naked eye.
That dark red shadow came to an abrupt halt several dozens of feet before Su Ming. Its body became clear—it was the Fire Ape. It squatted down before him and glared at him with hate and disgust, along with a strong desire to not submit to him.
From its gaze, Su Ming could sense the pride within the ape’s heart and its hatred towards all the living. Clearly, it had gone through an endless amount of suffering and torture in the boy’s hands. Yet not only did his actions not subjugate the ape, they instead fuelled it with a maddening killing intent towards all the people around it.
Even Su Ming, who had looked at him slightly differently previously, was completely hateful in its eyes as he sat before it at that moment. Once the ape had the chance, it would tear its body apart.
Zi Che stood up in the distance and took a few steps forward as he glared at the Fire Ape coldly. He could sense the intense rage and madness from the ape. If it was not for the chain binding it, it would probably have instantly jumped on Su Ming and killed him, and once it did so, it would roar towards the skies before running away.
Zi Che could also sense a powerful, threatening feeling from that animal. That ape might be weakened now, but there was a mighty pressure that was equivalent to the power of those in the Bone Sacrifice Realm coming from within it. That pressure might be faint and weak right then, but it was there, and it was a clear sign on just how strong the ape was when it was at the peak of its health.
The speed just now had especially shocked Zi Che.
Almost the instant Zi Che took a few cautious steps forward, that Fire Ape immediately turned around and glared at him with bloodshot eyes before charging towards him with a murderous aura. He only managed to see a dark-red shadow charging out, and in an instant, it was already only thirty feet away from him.
With a bang, that chain was stretched taut, causing the Fire Ape’s speed to come to an abrupt halt and its claw swipe through the air twenty feet away from Zi Che. It might not have touched Zi Che, but it still stirred a strong gust of wind that stunned him where he stood. The wind against his face was so strong that it caused a faint stab of pain.
The Fire Ape that was tied down by the chain around its neck was howling at the sky at that moment. Its voice was filled with despair, resignation, and resentment. The flesh under its neck was also torn into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess because the chain was wound too tightly.
"Zi Che, stand down." Su Ming was staring at the Fire Ape when he whispered.
Zi Che bent his body down and bowed towards him. He took a few steps back but kept his eyes trained warily on the Fire Ape. That creature’s savage presence was shocking, and he could already imagine that it would definitely turn into a huge disaster once it broke free of the chains and regained its freedom.
Though Zi Che retreated some distance away, the madness in the Fire Ape’s eyes did not diminish, it instead became stronger. It could be seen from the ape’s expression alone that it did not believe in anyone and harbored an intense repulsion and hatred towards everything around it. Su Ming could also tell… that it was using its savageness and madness to hide the loneliness in its heart.
These were the things Su Ming saw.
"I once had a companion," Su Ming whispered softly.
The moment he opened his mouth, the Fire Ape turned around and stared at him. The red glare in its eyes appeared once again. As the murderous glint appeared in its eyes, it turned around, squatted down, and ruthlessness appeared on its expression.
"Its name…"
When Su Ming said the last word, the expression of Zi Che, who was standing not too far away, changed.
The Fire Ape let out a piercing howl, and it rushed so quickly that it only left behind a shadow. It charged towards Su Ming so quickly that it arrived before him in an instant, its murderous aura burning so strongly that it could burn the skies. By the looks of it, it seemed as if the ape wanted to tear a hole through Su Ming’s chest, tear out his heart, and eat it raw.
Sorrow appeared on Su Ming’s face. The Fire Ape saw that sorrow, but not only did it not slow down, it became even faster. Yet the moment it was about to touch Su Ming’s body, the ape suddenly let out a shrill cry. Its neck was bound tightly by the chain, causing it to be unable to breathe. The chain also jerked backwards, causing the ape to be dragged away and thrown against the wall beside Su Ming.
A bang echoed in the air, and cracks appeared on the wall. The Fire Ape’s body fell down, but the beast immediately climbed up and continued howling at Su Ming with madness and ferocity.
"Uncle master, be careful!" At that moment, Zi Che’s voice buzzed in Su Ming’s ears. Everything had happened too quickly, and all of it only lasted for an instant.
"...was Xiao Hong…" Su Ming did not stop speaking, finis.h.i.+ng his sentence. If anyone was going to describe the scene just now, then it could be said that everything happened during Su Ming’s first sentence.
"When we became acquainted with each other, I was just a naive teenager, and it lived in the forest…" Su Ming spoke softly as if he was mumbling, but it also seemed as if he was speaking to the Fire Ape.
The brutality on the Fire Ape’s face became stronger, as if it did not understand Su Ming’s words. It charged towards him once again, even though it knew that it was useless. Still, it continued charging towards Su Ming.
It closed in on him in the span of a breath, but before its claw could tear through his skin, the chain around its neck instantly threw him back again and it crashed on the ground.
Zi Che let out a sigh of relief only then. He took a few steps back and looked in the direction where Su Ming and the Fire Ape were with wariness. That Fire Ape was very strong and its strength had delivered a large shock to Zi Che. Not only was it fast, it was also incredibly powerful, so powerful that the murderous aura in it was still burning intensely even though its body had already sustained such heavy injuries.
"I was weak, and besides being agile, there was nothing else good about me… but I was very familiar with that forest, that’s why I usually ran around there. I thought that I was really quick…
"Until I met Xiao Hong…" As Su Ming mumbled, that Fire Ape let out a piercing screech and charged towards him once again. Yet once it arrived before him, it was still thrown back by the chain. A cras.h.i.+ng sound reverberated through the air, and it covered Su Ming’s voice.
"I remember that when we first met, it was sitting on a tree branch with a piece of fruit in its claw. It was laughing at me from that tree… It had fire-red fur just like yours…"
Nostalgia appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. As he spoke, the Fire Ape appeared before him once again, yet what awaited it was it falling to the ground once again. This time, it coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Yet the madness and ferociousness on its face did not dwindle.
"It was very beautiful and I really liked it… I wanted to catch it, but it was just too fast… perhaps it was fate, but after that, every single time I entered that forest, I saw it…" A smile appeared on Su Ming’s face. It was a nostalgic smile brought about by reminiscence.
The moment that smile appeared, the Fire Ape charged towards him once again. However, this time, before it could even get closer to Su Ming, it saw the gentle smile on his face and trembled.
It possessed high intelligence and could differentiate good intentions from bad. It had also never believed in people, be it their smiles or their words, because from its experiences, they were never true.
It did not believe in anyone. It only believed in its own instincts.
That was why while it had understood Su Ming’s words, it chose to ignore him and instead used violence to fight against him. However, right then, at that very moment it saw the gentle smile on Su Ming’s face, for a reason it did not know itself, that smile touched its soul, which was hidden deep inside.
There was not a hint of ill will in that smile, but neither was that smile aimed towards it…
Nonetheless, there was sincerity within that smile, and even a hint of sorrow that was hidden underneath joy.
That Fire Ape stopped and squatted down ten feet away from Su Ming. It looked at the person before it, and a hint of hesitation appeared on the brutal expression on its face.
"I gave Xiao Hong its name…" Su Ming mumbled and closed his eyes.