Su Ming’s heart trembled. He had used his divine sense to check the skeleton and used his eyes to verify that it had been dead for many years. His body had also completely dried up.
When his wrist was grabbed by the skeleton, a huge storm stirred up in his heart, and as he stood there completely stunned, he almost forgot about the ferocious beasts that were charging towards him with those incessant roars.
This sudden accident that happened completely out of his expectations made Su Ming’s pupils shrink.
"I found… the third… he’s at… Eternal…"
A faint, dark light glowed in the skeleton’s eyes, but before he could even finish speaking his sentence, that light immediately became dull and disappeared. The dried up hand that held onto Su Ming’s wrist also fell to the floor.
Su Ming was shocked to the core, but he did not have time to think. He grabbed the skeleton’s armor, and once he did so, a transparent jade slip about the size of his palm slipped off from under the armor covering the skeleton. Due to its transparency, it was difficult for anyone to discover it.
Su Ming had also only taken notice of it when he tore that purple armor off the skeleton. Without a hint of hesitation, he swept that transparent jade slip towards himself with a sweep of his arm, then immediately charged forward into the distance the instant the squirming creatures from the walls around him started crawling out.
The moment he left, the b.u.mps in the walls around him burst open, and fog beasts that were now obviously slightly different from those Su Ming had seen previously rushed out with unending roars.
These creatures looked like pythons, but also had indistinct human faces where their heads should be. Forked tongues protruded out of their mouths as they hissed, and there was an eerie light in their eyes. Once they slammed their tails on the floor, they immediately charged towards Su Ming.
At the same time, the bone spikes shot through the floor and exploded, turning into small gray humanoids with long tails. Besides the cracks where their eyes and mouth should be, there was another crack at the top of their heads. That particular crack had now been ripped wide apart, making it seem as if there was a strange thing stored inside the heads and it was trying to crawl out from their skulls.
Apart from the fog beasts and Bone Fiends, the white figures that were floating forward while crying were also different. Their facial features were originally hidden under their hair and were rather indistinct, but as they lifted their heads, absolutely gorgeous faces could be seen, and their grace was especially breathtaking. It was enough to make a person who saw them be completely infatuated with their looks.
Su Ming could see none of it. He simply continued speeding forward at his absolute fastest speed. He had already lost his connection with the small snake and was feeling extremely anxious, but he could still sense the final spot where his snake was before the connection broke!
A long time pa.s.sed as he continued charging forward, and the tunnel before him abruptly expanded. Then, a gigantic hole of flesh and blood—so great that it was like a field—appeared right before Su Ming!
This was the spot where his connection broke with his snake!
The instant Su Ming arrived at this spot, he saw a bizarre object that looked like the crown of a tree, and it was formed by several thick black tendons intertwining with each other right at the center of the gigantic hole!
At the top of those black tendons was a ma.s.s of dried up flesh nearly ten thousand feet big. That ma.s.s of flesh was filled with b.u.mps, and it was in a dark grayish color. There was also several spots on that ma.s.s of flesh that had drooped down.
Su Ming saw nearly a hundred glittering crystal fragments floating above that ma.s.s of flesh. The sizes of those crystal fragments differed, but each and every one of them exuded a presence that made him feel as if his mind was about to be sucked into them. It was as if there was a world contained within each of those crystal fragments.
There was a total of ninety-seven of those crystal fragments!
They floated near that ma.s.s of flesh, and if Su Ming took a closer look, he would see that there were black threads connecting those fragments to that ma.s.s of flesh.
Almost the instant Su Ming arrived at the place, the humongous ma.s.s of flesh shrank before instantly swelling up slightly, and the spot where it swelled up was turned straight towards Su Ming. A crack slowly opened up on that ma.s.s of flesh, and as that crack was continuously ripped apart, Su Ming saw a head within its deeper parts!
It was a woman’s head. She had long, l.u.s.trous hair, but there were black tendons covering her neck. At that moment, the woman had her eyes closed and her face was pale. There was not a hint of life within her. At the center of her brows was a flas.h.i.+ng mark, and the shape of the mark looked like a star.
Su Ming’s snake floated silently beside the woman’s head. It did not seem to be struggling, just in a daze. There were wisps of white smoke spreading out from its body, crawling straight into the mark at the center of the woman’s brows.
"This is the fate of all the descendants of the Candle Dragon… You cannot stop it…" The instant Su Ming saw the small snake, the ancient voice that he once heard echoed by his ears once again.
When he first heard it, he had been unable to discern whether voice belonged to a male or a female, but at that moment Su Ming could sense that it was an old voice clearly belonging to a woman.
"It only has a hint of the Candle Dragon’s blood within it, but as long as it has that blood, then it is a part of our race… This is fate. The Candle Dragons are destined to devour each other. This is its predetermined fate after running into me in my current state…
"Before it lost its will, its only hope was for its master to leave this place safely… You are its master, as long as you do not anger me during the sacred ritual of my race, then after I complete the ritual, I will let you leave safely." There was a wave of mercilessness in that ancient voice as it echoed in Su Ming’s head.
Su Ming looked at the small snake, looked at its closed eyes, looked at its unmoving body, and he clenched his right fist. His Divine General Armor appeared once again, and his right hand was no longer in the form of a fist, but was already holding onto the spiked club that had materialized in his right hand!
His Berserker Mark flickered on his face and his seven Berserker Bones shone with a piercing golden light in his body, causing Su Ming to look as if he was surrounded by golden light. At the same time, his Nascent Soul began forming seals with both hands. Even though it did not appear outside his body, it was already ready for a fight in his Dantian region.
The small virescent sword flashed before Su Ming. As green light filled its entire body, Su Ming took a step forward without wasting a single breath of his on meaningless words and charged straight towards the giant ma.s.s of flesh.
"I might only have a shred of my will left, but… How dare an ant like you provoke me..? Flesh and blood within the fog, form your body with my will!"
As that ancient voice echoed in the air calmly, the fog beasts with the appearances of pythons among the endless amount of ferocious beasts that were giving chase roared and exploded in an instant. Once an unknown number of those creatures exploded, their bodies turned into pieces of rotten flesh and appeared right before Su Ming out of nowhere while he rushed forward.
As those pieces of flesh gathered together, they turned into a gigantic body that was ten thousand feet tall in front of Su Ming. The body reminded of a snake but had the head of a dragon. It was entirely crimson, and it looked savage. Its eyes were gray, and each of its scales were about the size of an adult’s head.
An indescribable presence spread forth from the odd creature’s body.
"Murderous spirits in my bones, turn into bones and veins with my will!"
The ancient voice spoke once again. This time, the Bone Fiends behind Su Ming turned into sharp spikes and charged towards the gigantic body. Once they impaled it, the odd dragon and snake hybrid started moving, and the gray light in its eyes became stronger.
"Spirits formed from my soul, merge together into a single soul with my will…"
The instant the ancient voice said those words, the white figures behind Su Ming fused together as they cried shrilly and charged towards that dragon and snake hybrid. When they disappeared into its body, the dragon snake’s eyes suddenly shone brilliantly like the sun and moon. It lifted its head and let out a roar. The gray light in its eyes flickered, and it looked as if it had been revived as it charged towards Su Ming with a howl.
Su Ming swung the spiked club in his right outward, and it grew several times in size before ramming straight into the dragon snake’s body. At the same time, Su Ming drew one line with his left hand, executing Berserker Obliteration!
Immediately after, his Nascent Soul let out a piercing howl in his body. A large amount of ripples appeared around him. At that instant, all the divine abilities that he could cast from the array of skills he inherited from Hong Luo were executed by his Nascent Soul.
A violent bang reverberated in the area and spread in all directions. Once that bang faded away, Su Ming’s spiked club was bounced off and fell to the side. The divine abilities his Nascent Soul cast shattered, causing his Nascent Soul to instantaneously become so limp that he looked as if he was about to scatter away.
The Divine General Armor exploded, and his Berserker Obliteration did nothing. Everything that he had was completely useless before this dragon snake!
As that dragon snake closed in on him, Su Ming coughed out blood, and as that bang reverberated in the air, his body was forced back around a hundred feet, but there was not a hint of panic in his eyes.
"As expected, you’re indeed incredibly weakened. No matter how much will you have left remaining, you can’t hide just how terrified you are…"
As a cold sneer appeared on Su Ming’s lips, he lifted his right hand, formed a seal, then pointed in the direction before him. Immediately, his Han Mountain Bell manifested before him. This time, Su Ming did not intend to use Han Mountain Bell for defense but summoned it to cast its strongest power - the sixth head’s ability!
If Su Ming had not seen the white figures screeching and retreating when he summoned the Nine-Headed Dragon when he was outside, if he had not brought out the Nine-Headed Dragon before his small snake in the past and seen the small snake showing a guarded expression, then howling at it as if having run into its mortal enemy, it might not have left such a deep impression on his mind. If these things had not happened, then he would be uncertain as to how he should fight against this dead Candle Dragon’s will even after he had entered its body.
But that would only happen if those things had not occurred!
"Nine-Headed Dragon, Southern Emperor, Absolute!"
Once Su Ming’s Han Mountain Bell appeared and he finished forming those seals, he pointed forward. As Su Ming muttered the string of words without even wiping away the blood at the corners of his lips, Han Mountain Bell abruptly let out an intense howl.
The instant the howl reverberated through the air, a guarded expression immediately appeared on the dragon snake’s face, and it even started roaring. Its current look was the exact same as the small snake’s in the past, as if it had run into its greatest enemy!
"When I used this thing outside, you should have sensed it! You did everything that you could to stop me, even trying to kill me when I entered your dead body, because of your weakness. Perhaps I cannot fight against you, but I have here with me a creature that can frighten you!
"This is that creature!"
As Su Ming said those words, the roars within Han Mountain Bell grew stronger. At the same time, a nine-headed gigantic beast of ten thousand feet manifested above Han Mountain Bell. Six of its heads roared at the dragon snake at the same time, and the remaining three heads that were still sleeping started vibrating.
It did not matter whether it was the Nine-Headed Dragon’s expression or its gaze, there was also a sort of guardedness and hate within them, as if the Candle Dragon was also its mortal enemy!
"Candle Dragon… Nine-Headed Dragon…"
A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.
Translator’s Notes:
Candle Dragon, 九陰 (jiu3 yin1) and Nine-Headed Dragon 九嬰 (jiu3 ying1) is a play of words too. If you can tell, the pinyin for Candle Dragon and Nine-Headed Dragon are almost exactly the same, and considering how prideful dragons are, they wouldn’t want to share the same name with another completely different kind of dragon, suggesting that both types of dragons are mortal enemies in this book.