'Just what sort of secret is hidden in this foreign land? It's rare for the intruders to survive, and even if they do, they won't mention anything about this place.
'Is it because they can't talk about it, or is there some other reason?' Su Ming watched the bandits getting closer to the village. As the sounds of horse hooves shook the ground, the house dogs in the village that did not want to bark seemed to have sensed danger. They started barking in an almost shrill manner, causing the lights in the village that had already been extinguished to be lit up at that moment.
At the same time, cries of surprise and fear came from within the village. There were also cries of babies, and the village descended into chaos.
'I've been observing this village for half a month, and I didn't find anything off about it. This is just a mortal village … Since it's not an illusion, then they're real.
'This village was built here. If there were bandits around here often, then there's no way they wouldn't be on guard, but there's not a single protective fence around the village.
'There's something strange about these bandits as well. Why did I see them..?' Su Ming narrowed his eyes. As hundreds of thoughts ran through his head, he saw that the bandits were already less than 1,000 feet away from the village. The dogs were barking and whimpering, and the children were in their mothers' arms. As they trembled, fear and despair appeared in their eyes.
The men in the village held onto all the weapons they could get their hands on in the midst of their fear. They might be afraid, but they did not retreat. Instead, in their despair, they let out crazed roars.
To protect their families and their homes, they would give up their lives.
"Kill them! Destroy this village! Kill all the men, the elderly, and the children! Snatch away their food and women! Hurry up! Once we destroy this village, we have to hurry back!" The strongest man among the bandits lifted the scimitar in his hand with a ferocious smile and swung it forward. With a loud roar, all the men behind him charged towards the village while laughing maniacally.
1,000 feet, 800 feet, 600 feet …
Su Ming watched this scene from the distance. The bandits were already less than 300 feet away from the village. He looked at the people in the village whose faces were filled with fear and despair. He looked at the fear in the children's innocent eyes. He looked at the men who did not retreat even half a step to protect their homes. He looked at all the women who were crying and hugging their children tightly. A determined look appeared in their eyes.
Su Ming suddenly understood.
"I'm hesitating …" Su Ming mumbled.
"While I was hesitating, I fell into a dilemma. I could choose to help the villagers or assist the horse bandits in slaughtering the mortals. I could choose to remain calm and let things develop. Or I could choose to kill everyone here. Perhaps there were other choices, but …
This is not my will. This is me being forcefully dragged into a choice by this world, by the surrounding environment, and by the development of the situation. No matter what I do, I am making a choice. "
"This is a foreign land, rumored to be extremely dangerous in the outside world. I understand now!" Su Ming sucked in a deep breath. He looked at the bandits who were only a hundred feet away from the village, and he understood that everything before him was the first choice the world and the foreign land had given him.
"It's just like this withered tree. There's only one trunk, but the higher you go, the more branches will appear. Even if you choose one branch, you'll run into another choice. When you reach the end, you'll realize that it's not the end." Su Ming stood up and looked at the big tree beside him.
"Choices, huh..?" A freezing glare shone in Su Ming's eyes. He lifted his right hand and swung it in the direction of the village not too far away. At that moment, the bandits had already rushed into the village. The man leading the bandits laughed ferociously and lifted the scimitar in his hand. Just as he was about to cut down a middle-aged man in front of him, his body suddenly shuddered. The scimitar he lifted froze in midair. A gust of wind blew past, and the man and the horse beneath him were instantly reduced to ashes.
There was no blood, no shredded flesh. He was reduced to ashes and disappeared before the people's eyes. At the instant all the people in the village were stunned, the other bandits behind the man stopped moving in the midst of their terror. All of them … were reduced to ashes.
This strange scene immediately caused all the people in the village to almost stop breathing. They stared at the ashes spreading in the wind and snow before them with a dumbfounded expression. They had a feeling that everything was unreal, as if everything was just a dream.
When they saw Su Ming walking towards them through the wind and snow, all of them retreated while trembling. The gray-haired Su Ming walked through the wind and snow while dressed in a long white robe. When he stood before the mortals in the village, he swept his gaze past all of them.
What he saw was fear. It was a fear that was even stronger than when these people ran into the bandits just now as their bodies trembled. Su Ming averted his gaze in silence. He could not turn around. When he chose to leave, the wind lifted his hair.
"Re … You … You're a legend!" Suddenly, a quivering voice came from the crowd. An old man took a few quick steps forward. His face was covered in wrinkles, and he looked as if he was in his twilight years. At that moment, there was excitement on his face. He looked at Su Ming, and his body was trembling.
"You're a legend. You're our village's legend. It can't be wrong, it can't be wrong … I remember your portrait. You're a legend!"
Su Ming was momentarily stunned. He turned around and looked at the mortal old man.
In his excitement, the old man could not speak clearly. In his anxiety, he could not explain himself, so he quickly pointed at a house in the village.
A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He looked at the house and walked towards it. Once he pushed open the door, he stood at the entrance. His heart trembled, but he did not step in. Instead, he stood there for a long, long time.
The house was an ancestral hall, and there were plenty of memorial tablets placed inside. They were the places where the people who died in the village were worshiped by their descendants. There was a picture hanging on the wall behind the Evil Memorial Tablets.
There was a man in the picture. He was dressed in a long white robe and had a head full of long gray hair. His body was turned sideways in the wind and snow, as if he was about to turn around. The wind lifted his long hair, and this scene … was practically the same as when Su Ming had turned around to leave just now!
"This is the picture that our village has always worshiped. In the past, you …" The old man's quivering and excited voice came from behind Su Ming, but Su Ming did not listen to it. It was no longer important.
More importantly, when Su Ming looked at the picture scroll, at his long hair dancing in the air, and at the falling snow, he understood that this was not a picture scroll that had existed many years ago, but … the version of himself that had existed just now.
"Foreign land …" Su Ming mumbled. He lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the picture. The picture immediately charged towards him. At the instant Su Ming held it in his hand, a vast amount of power suddenly spread out from the picture and surged into his body. Then, an ancient voice appeared in his head.
There was an ancient presence to that voice, as if it had come from an endless amount of time ago. Due to how ancient it was, even those who heard it would feel as if it was decaying.
"I am … Sui Chen Zi." That voice echoed in Su Ming's heart, and there was a presence in that ancient voice that could make the galaxy freeze. At the instant the voice spread out, the wind and snow around Su Ming stopped moving, and all the villagers lost all signs of life. All of them stood still and did not move.
The houses in the area began to decay at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even the motionless people were beginning to decay.
They were not the only ones. Even the snow on the ground, the wind in the sky, and even the entire sky started slowly disappearing as if they were decaying.
In fact, even the picture scroll in Su Ming's hand was swiftly decaying as if it had been immersed in the passage of time as it disappeared.
All the colors in the area faded away at that moment, leaving behind only gray. Only Su Ming's body still retained its complete color, and he became the only thing that was different in this world.
"When I was born, the world had already been created. Those who practice cultivation have no lifespan, and I have already forgotten how long it has been … I alone have one of the nine skies in the universe, and my cultivation has reached its end. With one thought, the universe will be destroyed, and with one thought, the Dao of Heaven will be born.
"With one thought, all lives will be destroyed, and with one thought, all lives will be born … The nine worlds in the universe were first created, and I have already become one of them. If I die, then the world will be incomplete. If I die, then the world will no longer be complete.
"Wherever my will is, Plane's Kalpa will be born. With one thought, I will become a Master of Fate, and I will pursue the path of cultivation with all my life. All the lives in the world and the lives in my Expanse Cosmos will become my thoughts.
"However … the world is damaged, and it cannot be reversed. The universe wants to be destroyed, and it cannot be resisted. … The eight of them have already failed and died. They turned into dust, and only I am left struggling.
"Eight of the nine worlds in the universe have already been destroyed. What's the point of me struggling?
"I want to overturn the universe. If I succeed, then the world will be created once more, but if I fail … then my dust will appear in the heart of the universe. With eight of my good friends as my companions, even if I die, I will have no regrets.
"Before I die, I will set down a law. I, Sui Chen Zi, will say … that if this Expanse Cosmos falls and turns into dust, then those who are fated will be able to obtain my Divine Essence.
"Divine Essence is the source of the nine worlds that were born when the world was created. Only those who possess it can become one of the nine worlds in the universe. Only then can they reach the peak of their cultivation, and only then can they … give birth to a World!
"Fated one, I do not know how many years have passed since the universe you are in right now, but look at how many Great True Worlds there are in this universe, and you will know how many Sublime Paragons like me exist in the current era!
"Look at how many of the nine Voids of Dust have disappeared in the heart of the universe, and you will know how many people have become Sublime Paragons!"
Su Ming's heart trembled. This was the greatest shock he had ever experienced since he gained consciousness. The voice echoing in his heart caused a roar that overturned everything he knew about the foreign lands.
"If you want to obtain my Divine Essence, then there are only three outcomes. The first is death. The second is that you do not have the right, but you can leave. You cannot say a single word, or else you will die. The third … is to fuse with my Divine Essence and step into the path of Sublime Paragons!"
Su Ming felt as if a million thunderbolts had exploded in his head at the same time. His body trembled, and the world around him completely decayed at that instant. The houses disappeared, and the people turned into ashes. The sky disappeared, and the ground turned into nothingness. Only Su Ming was left standing alone in a daze.
The picture scroll in his hand also disappeared at that moment. (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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