As the picture disappeared and the world around him turned into nothingness, towering stone monuments appeared before Su Ming. The heights of these stone monuments varied. Some of them were several hundreds of thousands of feet tall, and some were only twenty to thirty thousand feet tall. At first glance, there were countless of them, and there were more than one hundred thousand of them.
Most of them were dull in color, and there were cracks on them. At the same time an ancient presence spread out from them, there was blood that had once seeped out of those cracks, but had now dried up.
Each stone monument had a name carved on it. There were more than one hundred thousand stone monuments, which meant that there were more than one hundred thousand names in this place.
"All lives who are fated to obtain my Divine Essence can obtain it, but … the law of the jungle is an undying law, which is why I have only left one hundred thousand stone monuments. With each person who comes, one person will die. This is one of the outcomes for those who wish to obtain my Divine Essence.
"Those who have their stone monuments taller than one million feet will be candidates for my Divine Essence. They can leave temporarily, and I will give you a time limit of one thousand years. Within one thousand years, you can come back here again. Once your stone monument reaches two hundred thousand feet, you can obtain another one thousand years, and so on.
"If you don't come back every one thousand years, you will destroy yourself. This is the second outcome for those who wish to obtain my Divine Essence.
"If you can make your stone monument reach one million feet in one go and obtain my Divine Essence, then all the other stone monuments will shatter and disappear like dust. This is the third outcome."
As Sui Chen Zi's voice echoed in Su Ming's heart, he immediately saw a stone monument that was eight hundred thousand something feet tall before him. A large amount of cracks were spreading out on it, and blood was continuously flowing out of them. In fact, Su Ming could even hear a shrill scream of pain and a roar filled with an unwillingness to admit defeat faintly traveling into his ears.
"No, I can't accept this! I've already been trapped here for twenty-three thousand years! Give me some more time, and I can make my stone monument reach one million feet! I can't accept this!"
The roar came to an abrupt halt. The stone monument before Su Ming was washed away by blood. As the voice disappeared, the name that once existed on the stone monument also disappeared without a trace. It was no longer wiped off.
At the same time, a gentle light shone on the stone monument. As it filled the area, it slowly shrank, and when it was only twenty thousand feet tall, the light faded away. The surface of the stone monument was as smooth as a mirror, and when Su Ming looked over, his figure was reflected on it.
"Leave your name behind. The inheritance will begin." The old voice echoed in Su Ming's mind once again. Su Ming fell silent. He looked at the one hundred thousand stone monuments around him. He had no path of retreat.
The so-called three outcomes did not mean that one would have to choose whether or not to accept the inheritance. Instead, when one first stepped into the foreign land and made the first choice, one was destined to step onto the path of inheritance.
"Either I die in the process of receiving the legacy, or I'll be trapped here forever. The only way I'll be able to get out of this place once the stone stele reaches 100,000 meters.
'Otherwise, they'll either die in the passage of time or have their rights taken over when someone else arrives, and they'll die … Judging by the way the rights are taken over, there doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern. After all, there are plenty of people who haven't reached eighty thousand feet. If that's the case, then this choice of having their rights taken over … is arbitrary. There's no pattern to it.' Su Ming fell silent.
He was very shocked by Sui Chenzi's arrangement. He knew that the more irregular it was, the more terrifying it was. It didn't give people a chance to choose at all, and they were always being chosen.
Perhaps only a few people would come to this place, and it would be nothing to the one hundred thousand people. This sort of choice would only result in one person dying out of one hundred thousand people, and the possibility of that happening to Su Ming was very low.
However … this place was open to all. Anyone could enter. In fact, there would definitely be many periods of time where a large number of cultivators would come to this place. If ten thousand people came, then it would no longer be one out of one hundred thousand, but one out of ten!
If fifty thousand people came, then it would be one out of two. Similarly, if one hundred thousand people came, then this would be a cruel and merciless elimination, and in an instant, all one hundred thousand people would be replaced.
Even if a person had just obtained the right and did not have much time to obtain Divine Essence before death arrived. This was unfair, but unfairness had always existed in the world.
Luck was the key to surviving in this place!
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath. He understood all of this and knew that he had no path of retreat. He stared at the stone monument before him, then lifted his right hand swiftly and swung it.
It was as if a violent gust of wind had swept through the area. When it landed on the stone monument and disappeared, a name appeared on it.
Mo Su.
At the instant that name appeared, the stone monument let out a booming sound. Bumps immediately appeared on its smooth surface, and gradually, a picture was formed. After a moment, when the picture was completely revealed, Su Ming saw himself standing before a normal person in a village in a world where snow and wind intersected with each other.
This was the choice he had made in the beginning, and at that moment, it was revealed on the stone monument.
Su Ming stared at the stone monument, and after a long while, he averted his gaze. When he looked further into the distance, he saw that there were a thousand stone monuments that had reached a million feet among the numerous stone monuments. This meant that there were a thousand people who had managed to not die after being trapped in this place for an unknown number of years. They had even managed to move into the area of a million feet and obtained the one thousand year limit.
There were a total of five hundred stone monuments that had reached two hundred thousand feet. These five hundred stone monuments stood erect in eight different locations, and the names on them shone with a faint light.
There were three hundred stone monuments that had reached three hundred thousand feet, two hundred stone monuments that were four hundred thousand feet tall, and as for the stone monuments that were five hundred thousand feet tall, Su Ming saw a hundred of them among the one hundred thousand stone monuments in the area.
There were twenty stone monuments that were six hundred thousand feet tall.
There were ten stone monuments that were seven hundred thousand feet tall.
Su Ming only saw one stone monument that was eight hundred thousand feet tall. It stood erect in the distance, but it was the tallest one in the area. It was an existence that caught everyone's attention. As Su Ming looked at the stone monument, he could vaguely see the name on it.
"Yun Shan Zi!"
"If you become a candidate for my Divine Essence, your lifespan will no longer be limited. You will not die under my rules … but if you cannot continue growing your stone monument, then besides being trapped for eternity, if anyone else becomes a candidate, they will also be disqualified." The old voice echoed in Su Ming's heart with an aloof tone.
"A cruel elimination," Su Ming mumbled. It was clear that if someone managed to make their stone monument reach one million feet, then the one thousand and first one million feet tall stone monument would definitely not appear. Instead, one of the previous one thousand stone monuments would be killed so that the number of stone monuments would remain at one thousand forever.
Due to the fact that there was no pattern to it and that it could be killed at will, even if the stone monument reached one hundred and ninety-nine thousand feet tall, the chances of death would still be the same as if it was one hundred and ten thousand feet tall.
Only one among a thousand would be chosen.
'There have been plenty of people who have come to this foreign land since ancient times … There is no limit to one's lifespan here, which means that there are incredibly ancient existences among the candidates here.
'Once someone successfully obtains Divine Essence, then all the others will die. The Duke of Crimson Flame once mentioned that Abyss Builders' Progenitor once walked out after entering the foreign land.
'I might not know which of the four foreign lands my ancestor entered, but since he was able to walk out, it means that he became a candidate for that foreign land. Then could his death in the end … be because the person who truly obtained the Divine Essence appeared in the foreign land he was in?' Su Ming's heart trembled, but he soon rejected that thought.
'The Duke of Crimson Flame said that besides Divine Essence Star Ocean, there were four foreign lands in the past, and there are still four of them now. This means that no one has successfully obtained Divine Essence. 'A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes, and a pensive look appeared on his face.
'Could it be … that Abyss Builders' Progenitor … didn't die? Instead, he was forced to return to the foreign land after one thousand years, and is still trapped even now? ' Su Ming frowned. There were plenty of clues, but it was difficult for him to find the true reason. However, no matter what, the destruction of the Fifth True World in the past might have been connected to this foreign land.
Su Ming sighed in his heart. There was only one path before him, and that was to make his stone monument reach one million feet! He sucked in a deep breath and took a step forward, arriving before the stone monument that represented him. As he looked at it, he lifted his right hand. He had a vague feeling that as long as he pressed his hand on the stone monument, he would be able to participate in another life and death battle between these one hundred thousand people.
At the instant Su Ming was about to press his hand on the stone monument, a loud bang suddenly reverberated in the air. A stone monument that was three hundred thousand feet tall in the distance shone with a dazzling light. Its size rose swiftly, and from three hundred thousand feet, it reached four hundred thousand feet. At the same time, a person walked out from within the light.
That person was a big man. He was incredibly built, and there was also a thick layer of power of World Planes surrounding him. His level of cultivation was actually in the later stage of World Plane Realm!
When he walked out with an exhausted look on his face, there was an apathetic look on his face. He saw Su Ming, but he did not pay any attention to him. Instead, he looked at another stone monument that was about two hundred thousand feet tall beside him, and a hint of gentleness flashed briefly in his exhausted eyes. It was as if the existence of that stone monument was the only thing keeping him going.
Su Ming swept his gaze over and saw the name carved on the man's stone monument.
Zhou Kang.
As for the two hundred thousand feet tall stone monument that the man was looking at with a gentle gaze, Su Ming also saw a name called Si Ma Yue.
'Si Ma Yue should be a woman's name. If these two aren't good friends, then they are definitely lovers. ' Su Ming looked at the man sitting cross-legged under his own stone monument. He was completely unbothered by Su Ming's observation and simply ignored it. He closed his eyes and did not speak.
In silence, Su Ming did not immediately place his hand on the stone monument. Instead, he took a few steps back and sat down cross-legged. Su Ming did not have a lot of ideas or experience when it came to obtaining the legacy of Divine Essence. If he could find some clues from the man, then he would be slightly more confident.
Time passed. Su Ming and the man did not speak to each other. Several hours later, Su Ming suddenly turned around and looked in another direction.
In that direction, as the air distorted, a gigantic blood-red crack appeared. Booming sounds came from within the crack, and soon after, a person walked out.
That person was an old man. Once he walked out, there was a dazed look on his face. He stared at his surroundings blankly, and there was also disbelief, shock, and astonishment on his face.
Clearly, this person was the same as Su Ming. This was the first time he had come here!
This scene immediately caught Su Ming's attention. In fact, the man also opened his eyes and stared at the old man. His breathing quickened slightly. This was a choice of death. There would definitely be someone among the one hundred thousand people who would die a moment later. The shadow of death instantly enveloped Su Ming and the man. (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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