The Duke of Crimson Flame was momentarily stunned. When he looked around, he did not see any traces of the bald crane. He also noticed the grave expression on Su Ming's face, and a guess instantly rose in his heart.
After a moment of hesitation, the Duke of Crimson Flame spoke hesitantly.
"I don't know its true origins either. I only saw a hint of familiarity on it. It's … very similar to a certain existence from my era."
"I'd like to hear the details," Su Ming said slowly while looking at the Duke of Crimson Flame.
"I told you before that each of the five Great True Worlds in the universe has a Kalpa Lord. They are the Sovereign of a True World, such as True Morning Dao World's Dao Chen, True Sacred Yin World's True Sacred Yin, and the Abyss Builders' Sovereign from the fifth True World.
"All of them are Kalpa Lords who have reached the Realm of Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death.
"Behind them are the five True Progenitors from the five Great True Worlds. Their levels of cultivation are even more astonishing, and they seem to have surpassed the level of Kalpa Lords. In fact, the five of them can interfere with some of the operations in the five Great True Worlds.
"It's as if they are the laws of the five Great True Worlds. They can manifest themselves into a myriad of existences, and very few people know just who their real selves are.
"They are part of the legends," the Duke of Crimson Flame mumbled as he spoke of the secret from ancient times.
"Among the five Great True Worlds, only the Sovereign of the fifth True World can surpass the True Progenitors in terms of level of cultivation. The Kalpa Lords of the other four Great True Worlds cannot do this.
"I don't know who the True Progenitors of the other True Worlds are, but the True Progenitor of the fifth True World has only one appearance over the years, and his name is … Lu Ya.
"He calls himself a Daoist, and his origins are mysterious.
"But … the universe is huge, and there are ten thousand races in it. It's impossible for the Kalpa Lords, True Progenitors, and the other three to be the strongest. In each True World, there are also old monsters whose levels of cultivation are similar to theirs. In fact, there are some who are even stronger. These people … are also legends.
"Some of them are alone, some of them have huge races behind them, and some of them … are rumored to have come from the vast galaxy beyond the five Great True Worlds.
"Among the legends of the fifth True World, there is one that describes a gigantic crane. That crane calls itself Black Ink. It is cunning and is incredibly ruthless. It loves to kill and plunder, and wherever it goes, sects will be destroyed, and all medicinal cores will be taken.
It seemed to only be interested in medicinal pills. If it didn't resist, then it would be fine. But if it did, then it would be a catastrophe.
The crane was skilled in the Art of Transformation, which was incredibly similar to the True Progenitor. No one knew its origins, but its existence was famous in the Fifth True World.
It did practically all sorts of despicable things. It toyed with the old monsters from all over the world, snatched the people's medicinal cores, and changed its appearance so that no one could guard against it. It caused the cranes in the Fifth True World to be almost completely slaughtered during that period of time.
Against this crane, all methods were useless. It was as if it was born with the ability to break through all arrays. Sealing techniques were useless against it.
Its infamy can even make a huge sect move and turn a galaxy into dust … It has only failed twice in its life. The first time was when it went to Abyss Builders' homeland and was defeated by the Sovereign, but it was only injured. Since the Sovereign did not chase after it, it managed to escape successfully.
"The second time was when it … stole True Progenitor Lu Ya's medicinal cores. It was chased down by Daoist Lu Ya for a thousand years, and in the end, its whereabouts were unknown." However, these are just rumors spread by outsiders. Few people know the specifics. "When the Duke of Crimson Flame said this, he cast Su Ming a strange look.
Su Ming's expression was also slightly strange. In fact, he did not even need to verify it to be eight-tenths certain that the bald crane was the legendary crane from the Fifth True World who had committed all sorts of crimes and snatched medicinal cores.
"The one beside you … fits these characteristics very well. It is greedy, ignores Runes, is skilled in transformation, and has the body of a crane. However, there is one thing that made me hesitant and unable to be completely certain. The legend from the Fifth True World was only interested in medicinal cores and regarded crystals as beneath his notice …
"But … the one beside you is persistent and thirsty for crystals. It has reached an indescribable state, which is why I cannot be certain whether it is the same as it was in the past!" the Duke of Crimson Flame said with a wry smile.
"If you didn't ask me, I wouldn't have said these words, because if it wasn't the legend from the past, then I wouldn't have said anything, but if it was, then I remember that sir's personality is one that will seek revenge for the smallest grievance and hold grudges.
Even if it's a small matter, he will remember it for the rest of his life. "The Duke of Crimson Flame continued smiling wryly, looking resigned.
At that moment, Su Ming was no longer eight-tenths certain, but nine-tenths certain that the bald crane was the legend the Duke of Crimson Flame spoke of. This vengeful personality was something that Su Ming had a deep impression of.
He remembered that the purple Ecang had once said that the bald crane had been severely injured three times. Clearly, it had been snatching medicinal cores in a frenzy during the era the Duke of Crimson Flame spoke of because it needed to recover from its injuries.
However, Su Ming still had some doubts. Just what could have made the bald crane shift its obsession from medicinal cores to crystals? This was something Su Ming could not understand no matter how hard he thought about it. Perhaps only when the bald crane recovered its memories would it understand just what sort of huge turn of events had happened.
'Duke of Crimson Flame only knows a part of the bald crane's experiences. After all, it's an existence that is as ancient as Ecang.' After a moment of pensive silence, Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the Duke of Crimson Flame.
'Er … it's also …' The Duke of Crimson Flame hesitated for a moment, then thought that since he had already said so much, he might as well tell Su Ming everything. That was why he gritted his teeth and continued speaking.
"I also heard a rumor before, but I don't know whether it's true or not. It's said that it's … incredibly perverted. There were quite a number of female cultivators in the Fifth True World who were involved with it in the past … Every single time it was mentioned, they would gnash their teeth and look as if they wanted to kill it with their own hands." Besides … I also met a female cultivator who was incredibly embarrassed when she mentioned it, as if it had done something that would make people's hair stand on end. "When the Duke of Crimson Flame finished speaking, Su Ming was momentarily stunned.
This was something he had never seen on the bald crane before.
"Then do you know where I can find some clues about it in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence? Or rather … if it's heavily injured and on the verge of death, is there any way to save it?" Resolve appeared on Su Ming's face. It did not matter where the bald crane came from or how many people hated it, it had fallen into a coma and was on the verge of death because of him. Su Ming would do everything in his power to save it.
"This is …" The Duke of Crimson Flame had already made some guesses in his heart just now. When he heard Su Ming's words, he became even more certain that something had happened to the bald crane. A pensive look appeared on his face, and after a long while, he shook his head.
'My level of cultivation was not at the same level as it was in the past. I simply don't know how I could help it … It's a soul now, and normal medicinal cores can't save it. If I could find True Progenitor Lu Ya, then perhaps I could save it with his medicinal core skills … but this is the same as searching for a needle in a haystack. Besides, I don't even know whether True Progenitor Lu Ya is still around.' The Duke of Crimson Flame sighed. Just as he was shaking his head, a glint suddenly appeared in his eyes, as if he had thought of something.
'It calls itself Black Ink … I remember now. When I was in the Fifth True World, I seemed to have heard someone mention a guess. They said that there's a high possibility that it's not a living being from the five Great True Worlds, but that it came from Divine Essence Galaxy.' The Duke of Crimson Flame immediately looked towards Su Ming.
"Are you talking about … Black Ink Planet?" A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes.
"Black Ink, Black Ink Planet. Perhaps there's some sort of connection between them, but I can't be certain. You'll have to think about it yourself." The Duke of Crimson Flame nodded.
Su Ming closed his eyes. After a long while, he reopened them, and determination appeared in his eyes. The bald crane knew Ecang, and this was enough to explain many things. The possibility that it came from Divine Essence Ocean was incredibly high. Because of that, there was a high possibility that Black Ink Planet was connected to the bald crane.
'Black Ink Planet has existed for a long time. Unless someone changed the planet's name to turn it into a trap targeted at the bald crane, there would definitely be some sort of clue to this sort of coincidence.'
Su Ming lowered his head and cast a glance at the green feather in his palm. He looked at the blood on it and sensed the familiar presence of the bald crane coming from the feather. The scenes of him meeting the bald crane and burning its soul rose in his head.
He could still vaguely hear the bald crane calling itself 'Grandpa Crane' in a smug manner.
'There are some things that don't involve rationality. Even though I know it's dangerous … I still have to do it.
'Since you burned your soul to help me, then for you … there's no harm in me stepping into danger!
'I originally couldn't obtain this feather. If it weren't for the Divine Essence Runic Symbols sealing the area, then even if I killed Kong Huan in the end, I would only be able to obtain one strand of green hair. It would be difficult for me to obtain both strands and turn them into this feather.
'I … will take a gamble. Bald crane, even if there's something wrong with this feather, we'll still take a gamble!
'If you can absorb this feather and recover slightly, then even if it's a dragon's lair, I will still go there for you.
'If … we lose, then I, Su Ming, promise that once I complete my Divine Essence, I will destroy the four Great True Worlds … and bury them with you!' Su Ming gritted his teeth and sent the green feather in his hand into his storage bag. At the instant his hand … touched the storage bag, he shuddered slightly. That shudder was a sign of the nervousness in Su Ming's heart.
At the instant the green feather landed in the storage bag, an endless amount of green light immediately spread out from it. At the same time, the sleeping bald crane's soul started shining with a powerful black light to fight against the green light.
At that moment, the green feather turned into a green peacock. With ferociousness and madness on its face, and a hint of willpower grew in its eyes, it charged towards the bald crane. As black light spread out from the bald crane, it turned into a crane with its eyes closed. As if by instinct, it closed in on the green peacock.
At the instant both sides closed in on each other, a glint appeared in Su Ming's right eye. The Divine Essence Runic Symbols appeared swiftly and rushed into the storage bag to cover the green peacock's body.
'As expected, there's something wrong!' Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. The Divine Essence Runic Symbols let out a loud bang and exploded on the green peacock's body, instantly wiping away the willpower in its eyes, causing a shrill roar to reverberate in the air.
'Divine Essence … This is impossible!'
As it screamed in pain, the green peacock's eyes became lifeless, and its body looked as if it was about to disintegrate. The bald crane with its eyes closed suddenly pounced on it, and the two of them instantly fused together. The bald crane still had its eyes closed and was still in deep sleep, but the speed at which its body was moving immediately became much slower.
Vaguely, the bald crane seemed to be slightly different from how it was in the past, as if its soul had recovered slightly.
'It's effective!' A brilliant light that surged into the sky appeared in Su Ming's eyes. (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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