A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. Even though Bai Feng was still mumbling to herself, Su Ming had saved her because he was sentimental about the past. He did not pity her, and it had nothing to do with love.
From the moment Bai Feng decided to use Su Ming, the two of them were destined to become strangers to each other.
As his eyes sparkled, Su Ming no longer bothered with Bai Feng. Instead, black light shone on his body, and the Light of Extreme Darkness swept through the area with him as its center. It did not spread too far, only covering the pit.
At the instant the Light of Extreme Darkness covered the area, Su Ming slowly closed his eyes, and a wisp of black smoke flew out of his body. It turned into the bald crane in the blink of an eye. It existed in the Light of Extreme Darkness, and its body looked as if it was melting, as if it had fused with the Light of Extreme Darkness.
"Mortal Refinement Art. Use your will to surround the supreme treasure, and your thoughts will be the path to enter the cycle of reincarnation!" Su Ming lifted his hands and flung them forward. The white ring immediately appeared and floated in front of him. It was incredibly big and practically occupied the entire pit.
There was a solemn look on Su Ming's face. He continuously formed seals with his hands in front of him. These seals were taught to him by the bald crane, and when Su Ming executed them, they sank into the white ring.
However, the ring did not move. As it floated in the air, it did not react to the seals.
Gradually, the speed at which Su Ming formed the seals with his hands became faster. About one hundred breaths passed, and Su Ming's eyes flew open. He bit the tip of his tongue and coughed up a mouthful of blood. It turned into blood fog and charged towards the white ring. In an instant, it was carved deep into the white ring like a brand.
The ring shuddered. It was as if Su Ming's blood had changed due to the complicated seals he had made just then, and it contained some sort of strange power that shook the white ring.
However, it only shuddered for an instant before it returned to normal, and Su Ming's eyes lit up.
'This Mortal Refinement Art is indeed useful. This is just the start of the first refinement, and it's already able to shake this treasure.' Su Ming's eyes sparkled. All his attention was focused on his hands as he formed a seal once again. This time, he lasted for nearly two hundred breaths before he coughed up another mouthful of blood. At the instant his blood touched the white ring, it started trembling once again.
As it trembled, it looked as if a thread of blood was about to crawl into the white ring, but soon, the ring started showing signs of recovering. Without any hesitation, Su Ming leaped up and started swimming around the white ring. As he did so, he started forming seals with his hands. His speed became faster, and the number of seals also increased. Occasionally, he would cough up blood.
Yet if anyone took a closer look, they would be able to see that every single time Su Ming coughed out blood, it would come from the same spot on the white ring. That spot was the spot where the white blood vessels had appeared previously.
In just a short period of time, Su Ming's entire body was drenched in sweat. A large amount of it covered his entire body, and even with his level of cultivation, he seemed to be unable to withstand it. After all, each of the seals he formed had used up quite a large amount of his cultivation base. Each mouthful of blood he coughed up contained Su Ming's soul, as well as his heart's blood.
'998 seals and eight mouthfuls of blood. Right now, I only need one more seal and one more mouthful of blood, and I'll be able to activate the first refinement!' Su Ming panted harshly, but determination appeared on his face. With a single move, he lifted his right hand and formed the 999th seal. At the instant he struck the ring, he opened his mouth and coughed up the ninth mouthful of blood. That blood instantly caught up to Su Ming's right hand, and almost at the same time, it landed on the spot where the blood vessels had appeared on the ring.
'Bald crane!' At the same time, Su Ming immediately sent a divine thought to the bald crane in his heart.
The bald crane had been prepared for a long time. At that moment, it let out a shrill cry, and its disappeared body swiftly manifested to turn into a black needle. It did not stab towards the white ring, but charged towards the center of Su Ming's brows. Su Ming did not dodge, simply allowing the black needle that was the bald crane to instantly close in on him with a sharp glare and stab into the center of his brows. Once it completely pierced through, it instantly stabbed into his brain!
Su Ming immediately felt his mind roar. That roar brought with it waves of sharp pain as it reverberated in his head. As it continued echoing in his head, it grew louder until it completely replaced all of Su Ming's consciousness. At that moment, a drop of crimson blood swiftly appeared at the center of Su Ming's brows. It turned into a long arc and charged towards the spot on the white ring where the faint blood-red threads had appeared. Once they touched it, the drop of blood was absorbed by the blood-red thread as if it had melted. Immediately, the blood-red thread in the white ring looked as if it had obtained nourishment and started spreading outwards.
Soon after, Su Ming's consciousness scattered. His mind instantly became empty, as if all his thoughts had been cut off, but soon, his scattered consciousness gathered together once more. When he opened his eyes, he no longer saw the planet surrounded by the Light of Extreme Darkness. His body was no longer in the shattered planet, but in a world Su Ming had never seen before.
"Grandpa, can you give me that fish?" A pretty voice immediately reached Su Ming's ears. It seemed to instantly pull Su Ming's slightly dazed mind back to reality, causing his pupils to focus, and he saw the world before him.
It was a sky with blue skies and white clouds. The land was filled with mountain ranges, and Su Ming was on a small island beside a lake. There were some villagers on the island, and Su Ming was sitting on a fishing platform with a bamboo hat over his head to shield himself from the sun. There was a fishing rod in front of him, and he was fishing.
At the edge of the fishing platform made of wood was a net hanging from a wooden post. The net was lowered into the lake, and Su Ming could vaguely see a fish swimming in it. It looked as if it wanted to break free, but could not do so.
Behind Su Ming was a little girl squatting on the ground. With an innocent look on her face, she pointed at the fishing net and begged Su Ming.
Su Ming was momentarily stunned, then lowered his head to look at himself. He had the body of an old man. His hands were rough, but even though he was old, there were no cracks on them. Clearly, he had fished often and often touched water.
He stared at the fish, then at the little girl, and a hint of understanding appeared in Su Ming's eyes.
The words the bald crane had told him previously appeared in his head. It was telling Su Ming about the will of reincarnation in the Mortal Refinement Art.
"The nine cycles of reincarnation are the cycles of reincarnation between you and the supreme treasure. They might be very short, but they might also be incredibly long. In them, you will no longer be you, and the supreme treasure will no longer be the supreme treasure.
"It will turn into a wisp of its will and fuse with the cycle of reincarnation. During the nine cycles of reincarnation, if you form a link of fate with it, then once the Mortal Refinement Art ends, that link of fate will become the connection between you and the supreme treasure, and it will belong to you.
"This might seem simple, but in truth, there are quite a few difficulties involved. First, you must find it in the cycles of reincarnation. Only when you find it can you form a link of fate with it.
"Reincarnation is too mysterious for words. Very few people can understand it completely, which is why finding it in the cycles of reincarnation is the most crucial thing. If you can't find it or find it wrongly, then you will not be able to form the link of fate, and the Mortal Refinement Art will fail.
"As for how you are supposed to find it, I don't know either …"
When the bald crane's words echoed in Su Ming's head, the little girl looked at him with a pleading expression and spoke with her young voice again. "Grandpa, this fish is so pitiful. Don't eat it. Can you give it to me?"
Su Ming lifted his head slightly. Sunlight was blocked by the bamboo hat and could not fall on his face. He stared at the little girl before him, then at the fish in the net. A frown gradually formed between his brows. He could not tell whether the will formed by the supreme treasure belonged to the little girl or … the fish in the first cycle of reincarnation!
At the same time, in the deep pit filled with Su Ming's Light of Extreme Darkness on the shattered planet beyond the cycle of reincarnation, the bald crane yawned. Occasionally, it would sweep its gaze past Su Ming, who was sitting cross-legged and meditating not too far away. There was a black thread at the center of Su Ming's brows that was connected to the white ring.
The bald crane yawned, then looked at the floating white ring, as if it was incredibly bored.
"Heh heh, I'm the smart one. I can even remember such a powerful Mortal Refinement Art. Looks like I was definitely not a simple person in the past. I might even be someone important." In its boredom, the bald crane began boasting about itself. This sort of boasting was the thing it loved the most. Usually, when it was bored, it would do so willingly.
"Speaking of me … Hmm, I seem to have remembered something. There seems to be some sort of flaw in this Mortal Refinement Art. It seems … like it's very serious?" The bald crane was momentarily stunned. It used its claw to scratch its bald head, then instinctively started swimming about in the Light of Extreme Darkness.
"That's strange. Just what sort of flaw is it? Damn it, why can't I remember anything?" With an annoyed look on its face, the bald crane flew out of the Light of Extreme Darkness without realizing it. It appeared outside the pit, but the instant it walked out, the bald crane widened its eyes and stared at the spot where Bai Feng had been with a dumbfounded expression. It saw Bai Feng, who had already stopped breathing, but there was a black thread at the center of her brows that was spreading into the Light of Extreme Darkness.
With a long face, the bald crane immediately flew into the Light of Extreme Darkness through the black thread until it saw the white ring. It … was connected to the white ring.
"Damn it, I remember now. When I refine this supreme treasure, the greatest taboo is having other people around it. It's over, it's over. If Su Ming fails, my reputation will be ruined …" The bald crane's face was filled with gloom. It had a vague feeling that it could not cut off the black thread, or else it would affect Su Ming greatly and cause the refinement to fail.
And once it failed, it would be practically impossible for it to attempt the refinement a second time. After all, once it was left behind, it would be very difficult to change it.
The bald crane continued scratching its bald head with its claw. Suddenly, a glint appeared in its eyes, and it lifted its claw, as if it was calculating something with its fingers. In just the span of a few breaths, its expression suddenly relaxed.
"There's a faint serendipity. Heh heh, since there's a serendipity in it, then even if Su Ming fails, he can't blame me for not reminding him. That's right, that's right. I intentionally didn't say anything because I wanted him to obtain a serendipity. That's right, I'm really smart, haha." The bald crane laughed smugly and began praising itself nonstop again …
It's finally here … (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com and vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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