At the instant it saw Su Ming, all the feathers on the seven-colored peacock immediately stood up. As it shuddered, its body started twisting. Clearly, due to the shock, its divine ability had become unstable, and it turned back into the bald crane. The few feathers on its body were practically standing up at that moment.
It stared at Su Ming in a daze, blinked, and a few drops of tears squeezed out of its eyes …
"I … I …" The bald crane was terrified and could not say anything even after a long time had passed.
"Open the Rune and come in with me." Su Ming looked at the bald crane coldly. As he spoke, he lifted his right hand and formed a seal. Then, without any hesitation, he pushed his palm towards the bald crane through the air. Immediately, a ray of black light spread out from Su Ming's fingertips and charged towards the bald crane. Once it fused into its body, it turned into a seal that was connected to Su Ming's mind.
He originally did not want to leave a seal on the bald crane's body. If it had not done what it did just then, then Su Ming would have ended his relationship with the bald crane once he stepped into the screen of light. He would not interfere with where the bald crane wanted to go.
In truth, if the bald crane had mentioned that it wanted to leave, Su Ming would not have rejected it. However, the crane's actions just now had displeased him.
The bald crane's heart trembled. It lowered its head and quickly went to the Rune. Once it opened it again, it looked at Su Ming with a fawning expression. Just as it was about to think about how to flatter him, Su Ming took a step forward and lifted his left hand to seize the bald crane's neck. Then, he lifted it and stepped into the screen of light.
Blue light shone brilliantly before his eyes. The world became blurry for an instant. When it became clear, Su Ming had already walked out of the screen of light and stood in midair of what used to be South Morning. He looked at the ground, and it was desolate. There was no grass on the ground, and the sky was murky. He could not see the sun clearly.
The mountains were still the same, and the plains were still the same, but there was no longer any signs of life. There was a stench of death in this desolate land.
Su Ming released his grip on the bald crane's neck. With a cold harrumph, he turned into a long arc and flew forward. The bald crane hung its head dejectedly and quickly followed behind him while mumbling nonstop in its heart. It had been too careless this time … Not only had it not managed to escape, a seal had been placed on its body.
'Damn it, I actually didn't manage to see through his probing this time … This Berserker Child is too cunning. Looks like he's skilled in probing. I'll have to remember this. I definitely can't fall for his tricks again!' The bald crane sighed and continuously told itself to be careful of this person's probing.
Su Ming walked in the sky. He was familiar with the land, and when he flew several hundreds of lis forward, an ocean on an island appeared in front of him. Su Ming's footsteps came to a halt.
The ocean was as vast as the sea, but it was not black. It was blue and covered a large area. There was originally no ocean in this place, but a world of glaciers. Freezing Sky Clan was built on these glaciers.
Yet now, as the disaster appeared and the Land of South Morning was split apart, the glaciers in the land of Freezing Sky Clan melted and turned into an ocean on the island, drowning out the familiarity in Su Ming's memories.
"Ninth summit …" Su Ming mumbled. He looked at the seawater on the ground, and the image of the ninth summit in the past appeared before his eyes. Gradually, excitement appeared on his face, and he swiftly spread his divine sense outwards to cover the entire area.
In his divine sense, he saw this piece of land. He saw that in the center of this vast ocean, there was a small mountain peak …
The instant he saw the mountain, Su Ming started trembling. His heart raced against his chest, and an endless amount of light appeared in his eyes. He slowly walked towards the small mountain, or rather, the mountain that was less than a thousand feet above the surface of the sea.
He was like a wanderer who had been away from home for many years and finally returned to his hometown one day. When he saw the unfamiliar sights mixed with the familiar, the complicated feelings and excitement he felt were difficult to describe with words.
The sea breeze brought with it an ancient air. It blew past the surface of the sea and stirred up layers of waves, causing the seawater to look as if it was sparkling, giving off a beautiful feeling of longing.
The wind blew against Su Ming's body, lifting his hair and causing his robes to flutter. When it fell into his eyes, it turned into longing and memories that tugged at his feet, making him walk towards the ninth summit of the past.
Everything disappeared from Su Ming's eyes at that moment. The only thing that remained was a mountain that was less than a thousand feet tall on the surface of the sea in the distance.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this was just the tip of the mountain, because most of the mountain was submerged deep under the sea, including Su Ming's cave abode, the plants second senior brother had planted, the isolation grounds of eldest senior brother, and the house where Hu Zi slept … All of them were submerged. Only the tip of the mountain that was one thousand feet tall stood erect on the ground. It was submerged in the sea, existing eternally.
It was as if it was also waiting for Su Ming, waiting for him to arrive, or else why would it be that the other mountains could no longer be seen and only this one was still around …
The past of the ninth summit turned into memories in Su Ming's eyes, causing complicated feelings to appear in his heart as he approached it. Twenty years had changed a lot due to the disaster.
Su Ming looked towards the top of the ninth summit, which was still hundreds of lis away from him. At that moment, there was a man standing outside the cave abode that originally belonged to Tian Xie Zi!
That man was built like a tiger and had a head full of messy hair. He was incredibly built, and as he stood there, he looked like an indestructible mountain. At that moment, he had his fists clenched and was glaring at the area before him.
Before him were two men dressed in lavish robes. Both of them were middle-aged, and one of them was staring at the man coldly before speaking languidly.
"There are only three days left until the end of the lease. If you want to continue staying here, then you will have to bring out more tributes than the last time. If you can't, then Heaven Gate will wipe this mountain off the face of the earth.
"Since we are both from the same sect, I'll give you a piece of advice. If you don't want to give up on this place, then you'd better bring out your tributes obediently," the other person said coldly.
"You're going too far!" The man let out a furious roar. His face was filled with anger and grievance. Over the years, he had given up too much to protect the ninth summit.
During the disaster, Freezing Sky Clan's Heaven Gate cast its divine ability and cast a Rune to envelop this place, causing it to be completely isolated from the outside world. Due to Heaven Gate's strength, all the forces of power had to submit to it.
The Earth Gate of the past was also destroyed and sunk into the depths of the sea due to various reasons. As for the ninth summit, it was mysteriously preserved, but there was a condition. The man had to go to Tian Xie Zi's cave abode every month and bring out ten items as tributes, or else Heaven Gate would destroy the ninth summit.
The man knew that there was a strange seal in his Master's cave abode that prevented outsiders from entering. If anyone tried to force their way in, then all the items inside would instantly be reduced to dust. Only the disciples of the ninth summit could enter and leave freely.
"Most of Master's belongings have already been taken away by you, so why won't you let the ninth summit go? I just want to protect my home. Master is gone, eldest senior brother is gone, second senior brother is also gone, youngest junior brother is missing. There's only me here, only me … I just want to protect this place. I just want this place to continue existing, so that when Master comes back, he can have a home, so that when eldest senior brother and second senior brother come back, they can see their home!
"When youngest junior brother comes back one day, he can find his way home. That's the only thought I have, but you … Why are you doing this?! There aren't many of Master's belongings left, what else do you want?!" As the man roared, tears fell from his eyes. No one else knew about the hardships and grievances he had endured over the years.
He was Hu Zi, the simple and honest Hu Zi of the past who had some unique hobbies. However, now that twenty years had passed, the Hu Zi of the past had an ancient look on his face. He was no longer the child who could sleep every day and not think about anything while he was under Tian Xie Zi's protection. Instead, he was a Hu Zi who wanted to protect the ninth summit and leave a home for his senior brothers and junior brothers!
"If Master was here, would you dare to do this?!
"Even if eldest senior brother was here, you wouldn't dare to do this! Even if second senior brother wasn't here, how could you dare to bully the ninth summit like this?! "Hu Zi's face was filled with anger as he roared at the two people.
"That's right. If senior Tian Xie Zi was here, we would indeed not dare to do this, but senior Tian Xie Zi has been missing for far too long. We don't even know whether he's still alive." One of the two people in front of Hu Zi shook his head and spoke.
"If your eldest senior brother or second senior brother were here, perhaps this wouldn't have happened, but they've both gone missing."
"Honestly, you don't have to be so angry. We're just obeying the orders of the school. We're just here to notify you," the other person said coldly.
"The ninth summit belongs to Freezing Sky Clan, and Freezing Sky Clan belongs to Heaven Gate. We want to take back this mountain, so how can we force you? Three days later, we'll come here to collect our tributes. If you can't bring them out, then we can only report this to the school. " Once the two people finished speaking, they cast Hu Zi a glance with a hint of mockery and disdain in their aloof eyes, then turned into long arcs that charged into the sky. The two of them looked as if they had pierced through space, and with a wave of distortions in the sky, they disappeared without a trace.
Only Hu Zi was left standing on the surface of the sea. Once he sat down in anguish, he clenched his fists tightly, but in the end, when he looked at the ground and at the ninth summit, he cried.
"I just want to protect the ninth summit. I don't want it to disappear. I want to find the warmth we had in the past. I want to leave a home for all of you … Master, where are you? Do you know what has happened to the ninth summit..?
"You went to Eastern Wastelands for the Land of South Morning, but do you know that the ninth summit can't take it anymore? I can't take it anymore …
"Eldest senior brother, where are you … Second senior brother, why did you go out as well? Why didn't you stay here and protect our home with me …?
"And youngest junior brother, you … you … Are you dead or alive? It's been twenty years. Do you still remember the ninth summit? Do you still remember Master, eldest senior brother, second senior brother, and me..?" Hu Zi mumbled as tears fell from his eyes.
A man crying like this was enough to make all those who saw him feel their hearts tremble.
I'm already very close to the top of the monthly votes. My fellow demons, please make it so that everyone has one vote! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com and vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
