Half a day had already passed. It was already afternoon. The gentle sunlight should have brought with it heat as it shone on the ground, but it was covered by the thick, dark clouds in the sky that refused to leave.
The rain was still falling heavily. As the wind howled, it swept through the sky and the mountains in waves.
The wind and rain might be there, but it could not block the gazes of the people in Han Mountain City. They wore straw capes and bamboo hats as they stared at Su Ming, who stood on the Chain swaying in the wind in midair!
The wind might be strong, the rain might be pouring down, but it could not affect what they were looking at. A person who had sounded Han Mountain Bell 20 something times, who had walked past all five stone pillars that had all collapsed, and who was walking on the sixth section of the first Chain … Perhaps it would be an exaggeration to say that this person and this matter only happened once in a thousand years, but it was definitely not enough to describe this person as someone who only appeared once in hundreds of years.
"The sixth section of the Chain. Look, he's slowing down. There's definitely something strange about this section of the Chain!"
"It's a pity that none of the people who successfully cleared the Chains of Han Mountain will reveal the secret of the Chain. Most of those who didn't manage to clear the Chain died. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they're all silent … It's why people are guessing why the Chains of Han Mountain are so difficult."
"Hmm? He stopped!"
The sounds of discussions rose into the air. Gazes fell on Su Ming through the curtain of rain. Even Nan Tian, Xuan Lun, Ke Jiu Si, and Leng Ying focused their gazes on him.
Su Ming no longer moved forward on the swaying Chain. Instead, he sat down cross-legged on the Chain. His body looked as if it was glued to the Chain. As the Chain swayed, he swayed as well.
His breathing quickened and a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. He was no longer looking at Puqiang Mountain in the distance, but at the Chain beneath him. The Chain had been washed away by the rain. There were even some spots where rust could be seen. It was clear that it had existed for many years, just like the rumors said.
'The thing that's giving me this pressure of time flowing away isn't this world, neither is it Puqiang Mountain before me, and neither is it the stone pillars I destroyed … It's this Chain!' As Su Ming moved forward and the mighty pressure of time grew stronger, he could clearly sense that his life force was being sucked away bit by bit by the chain.
The speed at which his life force was being sucked away was not fast, but the further he moved, the faster it became.
At that moment, Su Ming could still fight against it. After all, he had 979 blood veins. When he activated all his blood veins, he would bring a vast amount of Qi to his body. The circulation of his Qi was a part of his life force, and it could make up for the absorption.
However … Su Ming looked at the long Chain before him.
"I'm only at the sixth section now, there's still a long way to go … What kind of chain is this! Why does it have such shocking power … What's the use of it absorbing life force! " Su Ming sat down cross-legged. He chose to sit down because there was a spot on the chain before him that had a lot of rust on it. It was also the spot that stood out the most. When the rain fell on it, it would even bring some of the rust with it.
Wind howled by his ears. As he pounced on Su Ming, he brought with him a large amount of rain. Thunder also rumbled in the sky. Occasionally, lightning would appear. Beneath Su Ming was a bottomless abyss. When the rain fell into the abyss and lowered its head to see this scene, it was as if ten thousand arrows had been fired at the same time.
Su Ming caught his breath and lifted his right hand. He pointed at the rusted part of the Chain before him. His finger touched the rust on the Chain.
The moment he touched it, Su Ming's face gradually turned pale. His right index finger also turned white and blood drained from it. This was not because his blood was being sucked away, but because the life force created by the squirming of his organs, which were the driving force behind the circulation of his Qi, was slowly being sucked away.
Time trickled by. Su Ming had been sitting there for a long time. His right hand was still placed there, allowing his life force to be sucked away. He did not move.
Gradually, the people in Han Mountain City noticed that something was off, but they could not figure out the reason. All sorts of guesses appeared in their heads.
"Could it be that he's exhausted? It's already the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and he still doesn't show any signs of getting up. "
"Looks like the sixth section of the Chain is this person's end. It's a pity … a pity …"
"It's already pretty good that he managed to clear the sixth section. After all, the Chains of Han Mountain are not like the ancient bell. There's a risk of death when he tries to clear the Chain. I'm guessing that he's hesitating about whether he should continue …"
"But does he have a way out? He destroyed all the stone pillars behind him. Even if he chooses to walk back, the difficulty … "
Discussions spread through the wind and rain. Su Ming's actions attracted a lot of people's attention and hearts.
"Perhaps from the moment he destroyed the first stone pillar, he didn't choose to give up …" Nan Tian looked at Su Ming on the Chain and mumbled to himself.
After a while, a glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He lifted his right hand slowly and stared at the Chain. Gradually, his pupils shrank.
'It's just as I guessed. The Chain is absorbing life force to repair itself.' Before Su Ming's eyes, the spot that had obvious signs of rust was recovering, and a small part of it had even regained its normal color!
'The Chains of Han Mountain were created by Han Mountain's ancestor … He's a person from another world, so I can understand why he came to the land of the Berserkers to support Han Mountain Tribe. This would give him a place to stay.
'But why did he create the Chains of Han Mountain?! 'What is his real goal..? Did he personally create the Chains of Han Mountain, or did he find them in the land of the Berserkers, or perhaps … he brought them with him..?' Su Ming had met Han Kong before. In fact, it could even be said that Han Kong's death was directly related to him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Han Kong died in his hands.
It was precisely because of this that Su Ming made these connections. These were all guesses that few people would think about.
The people in Han Mountain City and Nan Tian were not the only ones paying attention to Su Ming's pause. The three tribes were also paying attention to him.
The old woman looked into the distance from Lake of Colors Tribe's mountain and frowned.
"This person fought against Si Ma Xin for Han Mountain Bell. I don't believe that he can only reach the sixth section," Yan Luan said softly by her side.
The old woman fell silent for a moment before she spoke languidly, "He's thinking about the Chain, just like how we thought about this question in the past."
On the summit of Tranquil East Tribe, as the Elder and the others sat cross-legged and were puzzled by Su Ming's actions, Han Cang Zi appeared on the stairs beside them and walked up. She did not bother with anyone but stood at the edge of the mountain and looked at the Chains of Han Mountain in the distance with a calm expression.
Puqiang Mountain was still filled with dead silence. All the people's gazes were focused on Su Ming, who was sitting in the distance. Some of their gazes were dark, and some were puzzled.
'What is he doing?' This was the thought in almost all the people's minds.
'Just what is the Chains of Han Mountain..?' Su Ming lowered his head and looked at the canyons beneath him. The canyons were dark and looked like the mouth of a wild beast that was waiting for people to fall in and devour them. Su Ming knew where the end of the canyons was, but it was precisely because he knew that he had questions about the Chain.
After a long while, Su Ming stood up slowly and lifted his right foot. He took a step forward and walked towards the sixth stone pillar before him.
The moment he stood up, a commotion broke out within Han Mountain City. When the people who had been watching Su Ming saw him finally walking out, they instantly started discussing among themselves.
"He's standing up!"
"He's finally walking down after waiting for so long. But I'm curious, why did he stop just now?"
Su Ming took a deep breath and walked forward. His footsteps were much slower than before. With each step he took, even though he was still walking on the Chain, every single time he came into contact with the Chain, his life force would be sucked away. It would make him feel uncomfortable, and he would also start feeling weak.
To him, he was no longer walking on the Chains of Han Mountain, but was walking on a person's life and time. Each step he took was like a part of his life. This sort of feeling was difficult for other people to understand. Only as time passed by would they occasionally sigh.
However, the Chain of Han Mountain shortened the process of time, causing that sigh to arrive earlier.
When dusk arrived, the clouds were still there, but the rain had lessened. It was no longer a storm, but a gentle breeze. Su Ming finally reached the end of the sixth Chain in the afternoon. The sixth stone pillar was 100 feet away from him.
At that moment, Su Ming's face was pale. He might have been circulating his Qi to stimulate his life force, but as he walked, the absorption of his life force became stronger and stronger. He could no longer reach a balance. He could feel that the Chain was roaring excitedly and continuously absorbing his life force to strengthen itself.
Su Ming used the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to cover the distance of 100 feet. When he stepped on the sixth stone pillar, he let out a deep breath and sat down cross-legged. He looked at the seventh, eighth, and ninth sections of the Chain before him, and at Puqiang Mountain, which was connected to the ninth section of the Chain. This path might have seemed close, but Su Ming had a feeling that it was very far away. He could already imagine the difficulty of the last three sections. They would far surpass the previous sections.
"This Chain … I'm somewhat familiar with it …" Su Ming mumbled with his eyes closed. This feeling had been buried deep in his heart until all sorts of questions and guesses appeared in his head. When he connected them to Han Kong, they surfaced in his head again and again.
The moment Su Ming stepped on the sixth stone pillar, a huge wave of commotion broke out among the crowd in Han Mountain City.
"The sixth stone pillar is the start of the seventh section of the Chain!"
"Will he be able to complete the seventh section of the Chain..?"
"I don't think so. He's already staggering on the sixth section of the Chain. It'll be difficult for him to complete the seventh section …"
"From what I know, some of the people who challenged the Chains of Han Mountain in the past failed at the seventh section … This section seems to be different from the previous ones!"
As the sounds of discussion rose, Su Ming remained seated. After a long while, when the sky turned completely dark and the moon appeared in the clouds, he opened his eyes.
"The moon is here …" Su Ming mumbled. "To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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