"Those who practice the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole will go through nine states of repletion and nine disasters before they can ascend to the state of hollow [1] and enter sainthood.
"You will also gain nine divine abilities that you will be able to execute with this Art. The first style of these nine divine abilities is known as Earthen Script. You will write your script underground, and this is known as… Grave!
"When you reach your first state of repletion, you will be able to use this Art to attack. Once you get through your disaster, you can turn the earth into dirt, and write a script that will form a grave."
Su Ming stood at the core of the ocean of wind. Several thousands of feet behind him was the eye of the typhoon.
While he stood there, he lifted his head to look at the nine long arcs that were descending from the sky. At that moment, the divine ability the Duke of Crimson Flame had told him he could use when he gave him the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole appeared in his head.
"Right now, I can somewhat be considered to have reached my first state of repletion. I should be able… to use the Art of Earthen Script." A freezing glare appeared in Su Ming"s eyes. In truth, he had been making detailed preparations to cast this Art of Earthen Script since much earlier.
All he was waiting for was to reach his first state of repletion, and he would be able to cast it.
At that moment, violent tremors came from the ground beneath the ocean of wind. When the nine swords. .h.i.t the ground, it shattered with a bang. Even the rotating gusts of violent wind fell backwards in all directions. As for the human head whirlwind Su Ming had made, it fell apart and scattered once one of those swords shot through it.
Once the ground trembled nine times, besides the wind in the core of the ocean of wind, all the other wind crashed into each other and disappeared without a trace under the great tremors and impact.
When the ocean of wind disappeared, a wide and s.p.a.cious region revealed itself, besides the core in the depths where the wind still howled loudly. No one"s field of vision was blocked any longer. They could also spread out their divine senses. But what caused the hearts of all the cultivators in the place to tremble, what forced them to stop moving one after another, and what brought expressions of respect and submission to their faces were the nine ancient swords that had stabbed the ground around the core of the ocean of wind.
The nine ancient swords seemed to have surrounded the core of the ocean of wind, forming a hoop.
"True Guards…" The cultivators around the area fell silent, mixed feelings hidden in their eyes.
Bang!
Nine bangs rang out at the same time, and large cracks appeared on the nine ancient swords. Once they shattered into countless shards, nine people were revealed sitting cross-legged within them.
Those nine people stood up at the same time. As they did so, the swords" shards that fell around them gathered together swiftly. As cracking sounds reverberated in the air, nine sets of armor formed on their bodies.
The bronze armor shone with an enchanting light on their bodies. There was also a lot of b.u.mps that were runic symbols on that armor, filling it with a mysterious air.
There were men and women among the nine people. The oldest was an old man, and the youngest was a young man. They were all similar, though, due to their aloof expressions and hint of disgust in their eyes.
"The True Guards will now capture the criminal. All of you wait here. You are not allowed to leave," a red-haired old man said, and the mighty pressure that belonged to those in the middle stage of World Plane Realm spread out from one of the nine people. As his voice echoed in the air, it formed a mighty pressure, and along with the group"s status as True Guard, it caused the World Paragons in the area to lower their heads in silence.
In the face of the powerful forces from the True Worlds keeping a lookout over the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, these felons did not dare resist.
The old True Guard seemed to be used to the submissive att.i.tude from the people around him. He turned around and instantly rushed into the core of the ocean of wind. The other eight people also took a step forward and disappeared into the ocean of wind.
"Based on Reverend Yin Sheng"s will, we can ignore the Radix Planet"s orders since this person appeared first in Western Ring Nebula and since Crimson Flame Planet belongs to Western Ring Nebula, which is coincidentally, where the True Guards from True Sacred Yin World are on the lookout. If we can catch this person alive… it will be the best!"
"He has secrets that the Reverend needs to obtain. However, if we can"t capture him alive, then since the Reverend won"t be able to obtain his secrets, then we are not to let the other people from the other three True Worlds obtain it, either. We will have to kill him."
"If the Reverend had not put a chokehold on the rewards, then perhaps the lure would have been more than a few World Stones and someone stronger from the criminals than those in the initial stage of World Plane Realm would have been tempted. All of this is because the Reverend is worried that the person will be killed beforehand, and as a result, this chance has been created for us. We will prioritize catching him alive in this fight!"
At the instant the nine moved into the ocean of wind, they immediately sent word to each other. They might be True Guards, but they were residents of True Sacred Yin World before they were guards. That was why they would first obey True Sacred Yin World"s commands.
At the instant the nine True Guards rushed into the ocean of wind, killing intent flashed in Su Ming"s eyes as he stood at the core of the place. He sucked in a deep breath, and once he sat down cross-legged, he formed a seal with both his hands, then placed his hands on his knees before closing his eyes.
"It"s time to draw the net in. True Guards in the middle stage of World Plane Realm… Duke of Crimson Flame, if I can devour a person, can I rush through the first state of repletion and have my physical body head into World Plane Realm?"
"If you can execute the complete Art of Earthen Script, you will have a chance to kill a powerful warrior in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. But now, you are just in a state of repletion and have not gone through the disaster. You can only execute the hand seal for Earthen Script. You can"t devour them."
"I want to try. If I succeed, it will be for the best, but if I fail, then detonate the essence that was formed after the death of the mighty cultivator that was sealed in this planet and s.h.i.+ft me to the eye of the typhoon to leave. Turn this place into a warning for all those who pursue me."
"Very well. I"ve already made all the preparations. I"m now able to detonate the sealed essence in this planet at any time I want." As the Duke of Crimson Flame"s calm voice echoed in Su Ming"s mind, he lifted his hands slowly.
At the instant he did so, the area beyond the core of the ocean of wind was immediately deprived of wind. Nine of the thirteen shards Su Ming had left behind in that vast and s.p.a.cious land instantly shone with a piercing light.
Besides these nine spots, there were nine other spots with shards in the dark core of the ocean of wind. Bright light was also s.h.i.+ning on those shards at that moment.
While seated, Su Ming lifted his right hand and moved it high over his left hand. Then, when he formed a seal with his hand, he pushed it swiftly against the ground. Immediately, the ground in the ocean of wind let out a bang. The nine shards outside let out a shrill buzzing and turned into nine long arcs that charged to the core of the ocean of wind.
The buzzing instantly attracted the attention of the cultivators beyond the core. When they looked over, they saw nine shards in the form of long arcs charging forth. In the blink of an eye, they went into the ocean of wind.
"Those are…"
"Each of those places were the spots in which the World Paragons had died. Could it be that Mo Su has prepared this beforehand?"
"This must definitely be some divine ability."
None of them alerted the True Guards. Once they noticed it, they looked towards the ocean of wind with bright eyes that shone with attentiveness.
At the instant those nine shards rushed into the ocean of wind, the four shards inside the ocean also flew up at the same time. Because of that, all thirteen shards charged towards the spot where Su Ming was from all directions.
At that moment, the nine True Guards were traveling at an incredibly fast pace towards Su Ming. In the blink of an eye, they were already not too far away from him. Nine waves of mighty pressure spread out at the same time, turning into an Art that was akin to a cage before that pressed down on Su Ming with loud booming sounds.
The True Guards could see Su Ming sitting cross-legged. Right then, he opened his eyes. He sensed the nine people closing in, and upon lifting his left hand, he pressed his palm against the center of his brows.
At that moment, Su Ming had his right palm pressed flat against the ground and his left hand at the center of his brows. The light in his eyes was rapidly turning dark, and even the ripples of his life seemed to have come to a state where they had almost stopped. It was as if he was rapidly dying.
As Su Ming performed this action, the thirteen shards that were charging forth through the ocean of wind became even faster and shone even brighter. Yet the nine True Guards had already closed in on Su Ming. As all of them formed a seal with their hands, nine rays of different colored light erupted from their bodies.
The nine rays of light intertwined with each other in midair, as if they were weaving something. They turned into a nine-colored net that swiftly closed in on Su Ming. By the looks of it, the True Guards seemed to want to catch him with that net.
"You can"t escape!"
A cold harrumph came from one of the nine people. The net was already less than two hundred feet away from Su Ming, destroying all the wind that came in contact with it. In fact, cracks would appear in the air wherever the net went through, as if it had been forcefully pushed apart.
When Su Ming saw that the net was about to fall on him, veins popped up on his face and he swiftly lifted his head.
"Earthen Script!"
At the instant Su Ming shouted those two words, his body shattered, but he did not turn into shards. Instead, he was like the fine grains of sand on the ground. He looked as if he was a stone statue that had shattered. The dirt on the ground swept up his body and rushed towards the old man that was the closest to Su Ming of the nine people.
At the same time, the thirteen shards charging over with a loud whistle rushed towards the old man at an extreme speed as well.
"You"re overestimating yourself. I"ll hold him back. All of you control the sealing net and catch him alive!" The old man let out a cold harrumph, and the power of World Planes erupted with a bang from his body.
A faint golden wave of impact swept outwards in all directions from the old man as his power of World Planes erupted. In the blink of an eye, that wave of impact covered an area of ten thousand feet.
Within that ten thousand feet, everything was colored by a faint sheen of gold, both living things and everything else. This form of control over the power of World Planes was the hallmark of those who had moved into the middle stage of World Plane Realm. All laws in the world and all the Origin Essence was forcefully expelled in that area. The only thing remaining was the laws that would be formed… once the old man spoke!
"Within my Void s.p.a.ce, if I say you will be injured, then you will be injured!" The old man swung his arm, then lifted his right hand and pointed at Su Ming, who had turned into earth and was charging towards him.
"Get hurt! Get hurt! Get hurt!"
A large part of the earth that was Su Ming shattered. In the blink of an eye, half of it disintegrated, while the remaining half turned into a face in midair. That face belonged to Su Ming. A weakened look showed up on his face, but madness soon covered it.
"Earthen Script!"
With that one roar, Su Ming"s speed instantly increased by several fold. The thirteen shards that were swiftly coming from outside shot through the region covered by the golden light, and in the blink of an eye, they appeared right behind the old man.
"Hmm?" This sudden scene caused the old man"s pupils to shrink, because it was difficult for his power of World Planes to stop this change within Su Ming. However, before he could execute his divine ability again…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several banging sounds reverberated in the sky and earth. The earth that was Su Ming covered the old man"s entire body and turned into a hump on the ground that looked… like a grave!
The thirteen shards closed in and entered the grave. As they gathered rapidly, they grouped together… to form a tombstone!
A picture swiftly drew itself on that tombstone. There was a person in that picture, and it was the old True Guard.
Translator"s Notes:
1. State of hollow (Kong): A concept in Taoism/Daoism. It comes before the state of emptiness (Wu). You have to reach the state of hollow to get to the state of emptiness: A psychological state of mind characterized by simplicity, quietness, patience, frugality, restraint, and lack of worldly desires.