"So, the one event that caused me to sink into despair in the past is only a joke after I obtained the power of a World Paragon!" Su Ming laughed loudly, but his laughter was a mocking one. He was not laughing at anyone else, but at the world and at himself.
He did not feel any sort of delight, no joy for getting his revenge, only derision.
All the people that had sacrificed themselves in this disaster in the past and all their deaths which Su Ming had been unable to prevent even though he had done everything he could to change it, even choosing to submit to that power with a dejected spirit, now looked like a joke in his eyes. During this instant, an incredibly great awareness towards the difference between the strong and the weak took form in Su Ming"s heart.
It was just like how that existence in Yin Death Vortex had uttered "very well" when Su Ming voiced his request.
Just that simple "very well" from a powerful warrior"s mouth was enough to stop this disaster, just like what Su Ming could do right now. If he wanted to kill, then he could do so with ease, all of Dao Yuan"s Dao Slaves were like ants before him now. This was such a mockery, and such a matter that could cause the hearts of others to ache with grief.
"Become stronger. I don"t want to be a weakling anymore. I want to become a powerful warrior. I want to control my own life. I don"t want to see people dying to protect me anymore. I don"t want to have all the people beside me disappear… leaving me only pitiful, lonely person in this vast world.
"I don"t want to!"
Su Ming had never had such a deep understanding towards the distinction between the strong and the weak as he did now. Even when the will in Yin Death Vortex had taken action in the past, he had only been shocked and swathed in anguish. That person"s great power had caused his heart to tremble and birthed a great desire in his heart.
This desire made him descend into madness, made him want to become stronger. Up till now, when he used the stone monument"s power to return to the past and took his revenge. He saw that he had obtained the power he had longed for in the past… but he was unhappy.
Because he was still not strong enough. He still could not be considered as a powerful warrior. Perhaps he could kill Dao Yuan and the other Dao Slaves, but even if he could take revenge now, so much time had already pa.s.sed.
If he ran into new enemies that were stronger, then the same scene would happen again, just like how he was forced to step into the foreign land because he had been chased down by a major force against which he could not fight back.
He did not want to only be able to turn his head back and look at the past on a certain day as time continued flowing away every single time when a disaster arrived because he was not strong enough. He did not want to laugh only then, to cry only then, and to experience this fate that was filled with scorn.
He wanted to move before fate and dictate how his fate should move instead of his body being led along like a puppet. He wanted to become even stronger!
"The strong and the weak. This is such a simple logic, and only now have I managed to come to understand it." As Su Ming laughed with his head thrown back, more tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked at the b.l.o.o.d.y sky and at the bright red hue in the sea. This was the color of autumn.
The tears that flowed from his eyes drowned his vision, blurring his sight. In the now muddled world he saw, he could not tell apart the sea and the sky. Everything he saw was an endless shade of red.
The will of autumn appeared in Su Ming"s consciousness and his mind without his knowledge. At the instant this happened, his cultivation base started circulating.
Winter, autumn, summer, spring!
This was Su Ming"s Life Matrix. It was the path he had come to understand and which he knew he would tread in the future, as if coming from death to life. When he was in Yin Death Region, his Life Matrix had been that of midwinter. It was the still silence of death, and when he was in Eastern Wastelands Tower, he understood the color of autumn. He longed to see the world become red. The red of autumn would allow him to feel death flowing away as he was surrounded by midwinter.
"What is the meaning of autumn..? What lies between life and death is autumn!
"Because autumn is the change between coldness and warmth. Because autumn is the transition between midwinter and summer. Because autumn… is the path where all manner of lives will head towards a withered state from their lush, life-filled states.
"Autumn should be crimson red. It is a change in each and every person"s state of life and death when I kill endlessly so that I can complete my epiphany. This is Autumn"s Slaughter!"
The circulation of Su Ming"s cultivation base became faster. As he gained his epiphany, as the world before his eyes was covered in an endless layer of bright red, as he laughed in self-depreciation, his cultivation base started roaring like thunder.
"My Life Matrix is winter, autumn, summer, and spring. What I lack in my Life isn"t a soul nor a physical body, but vitality. I lack vitality, because I am that dead baby in his mother"s embrace from all those years ago!
"I possess consciousness. This is due to the Abyss Builders" unique traits. My physical body grew up in the land of Immortals, and that is simply because there is no one who said that those who died could not continue growing!
"Life and death, the strong and the weak! It"s so simple, so simple!" Su Ming"s laughter was crazed. His cultivation base was at the initial stage of Life Privation Realm, which was at Earth Cultivation Realm.
Yet during that instant, as his cultivation base circulated in his body and he came to understand that he lacked vitality, it erupted from his body with a bang. The weather changed, and the heavens growled. The s.p.a.ce around him started trembling. As he stood in midair, his cultivation base rose, and he headed straight to the middle stage of Life Privation Realm from the initial stage.
Su Ming threw his head back and roared, "I want to become powerful! I want to become… the most powerful person in the universe!"
This was the first time such words were voiced by him. In the past, he had only wanted to become strong, but he had never set a specific goal. Yet now, at this instant, his roar shook the sky and earth, and it symbolized his desire, its strength within him.
The strongest person between the sky and earth, within and beyond the universe!
"I want to make all those who once humiliated me, who once cornered me, wanted to kill me, and wanted to control me to return to dust. I will turn them into dust. And I will have all the people in the universe not dare harm even a single hair of those who were kind to me, who helped me, and who protected me as long as the universe continues existing, even if they have committed heinous crimes and sins!
"I want to become the strongest! The strongest!"
As Su Ming"s voice echoed in the world, the red hue around him started trembling before surging towards him. The dead Dao Slaves and the blood-red will of autumn surged into his body. Once they rushed into all the pores, Su Ming roared towards the sky.
His gray hair danced in the air. His cultivation base rose once again with a bang at that instant, and he moved from the middle stage to the later stage of Life Privation Realm. With just one more step, he would attain great completion, and if he managed to breakthrough once he reached that stage, he would reach Life Palace Realm, which would mean that he had reached Heaven Cultivation Realm!
The moment Su Ming"s cultivation base reached the peak of Earth Cultivation Realm and he was only a step away from Heaven Cultivation Realm, the s.p.a.ce around him turned into a gigantic vortex. As it churned about, a huge eye appeared in it.
Once that happened, Su Ming"s body faded away and gradually disappeared. He turned around at that moment. There was no longer any madness in his eyes, only reluctance to part.
When he was in the stone monument"s dimension, he had sensed early on that the power which sealed his emotions and his pain had dispersed. It was as if that power was naturally suppressed here.
He looked at the people of the ninth summit around him, the familiar faces that would remain in his memories for all eternity. They might have died, but in his heart, they would remain alive.
"I will… resurrect all of you, one day…" Su Ming mumbled as he remembered the Abyss Builders" divine ability the Duke of Crimson Flame had mentioned. His body then gradually faded away until he disappeared into the world.
…..
In one of the four Great True Worlds, True Morning Dao World, there was an Osmanthus Planet. Given this name, it was no surprised that the place was filled with osmanthus trees. Their fragrance pervaded the air and dispersed by the wind. In the southeast region of this planet was a mountain range, and there were plenty of exquisite towers there. Within them were many cultivators.
The sounds of a Chinese zither came from one of the towers. The notes echoed in the air and did not disappear even after a long time had pa.s.sed. There was a woman in white sitting cross-legged there, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. She was incredibly beautiful, and if Su Ming could see her, he would be able to recognize that she was the woman that had appeared within the illusory projection brought up by one of the three souls in his body when he was still in Yin Death Region in the past. She was… Bai Su"s real self.
"What a strange feeling… I feel as if this piece is a dream." A dazed expression appeared on the woman in white"s face. As she mumbled, the sounds of the Chinese zither echoed in the air. That piece seemed to contain Su Ming"s mocking laughter along with his grief as he wept.
In an ordinary cultivation planet within True Morning Dao World was a cave abode. A cultivator of average looks was sitting cross-legged in there. In fact, he looked quite s.h.i.+fty, but as he continued sitting, tears flowed down from his eyes. After a long time, he opened his eyes, and nostalgia appeared within them.
"I can"t forget the Berserkers, can"t forget the ninth summit, and I can"t forget the joy I experienced when I was in the land of Berserkers, and neither can I forget… Su Ming." That cultivator did not have a high level of cultivation. After mumbling to himself, he closed his eyes once again [1].
Within Yin Death Vortex, which was the Immortals" territory within True Morning Dao World… was the land of Berserkers. There, on the ninth summit, was a man who looked like a flower. He was standing there, dressed in white, and as the sea breeze blew at him, it lifted up his robes and caused his long hair to dance in the wind, revealing a gentle and beautiful face.
He no longer had sunlight s.h.i.+ne on the side of his face, and a gentle smile was no longer always present on him. Actually, it had been a long time since it had graced his lips. He stood there quietly as he looked into the distance.
"Youngest junior brother, I dreamed of you… I dreamed that you killed Dao Yuan and all his Dao Slaves. I dreamed that you… became a powerful warrior. Was it just a dream..?" second senior brother mumbled softly.
In the cave abode behind him, Hu Zi opened his eyes from his dream as tears trickled down his cheeks. His face was filled with stubble, but he was not willing to shave it. He looked a slovenly mess as he grabbed the pot of wine beside him and drank large mouthfuls from it.
Wine flowed down the corners of his lips. But even as he drank, he was unable to control the tears flowing down his eyes. He wept silently.
"Youngest junior brother, I dreamed of you again. I miss you…"
Under the sea was the foot of the ninth summit, and it was also the isolation grounds of eldest senior brother. He had no head, but there was a crazed will within his body. He was training. He was continuously training. Only by doing so could he let go of some of the pain and guilt, stop blaming himself for a moment.
"Youngest junior brother… I"m sorry, if you didn"t try to save me…"
Translator"s Notes:
1. The cultivator: His name is not revealed, so I won"t mention it here as well. But here"s some stuff to jog your memory a bit. He was Su Ming"s experiment when he first tried out the Curse, then was conned by the bald crane, then joined Su Ming and the rest back on the ninth summit, and was witness to the whole Dao Yuan incident.