825 Persistence

To anyone else, this was definitely an abnormally insane idea!

This idea had been left to brew for more than sixty years, and now, he was finally going to put it into motion. The main point of his plan this time was not whether he would succeed, but that he definitely had to try. Only then would he have the possibility of success.

Su Ming also wanted to test some other things, and only by doing so would he be able to make that insane plan of his obtain a greater chance of success.

'Possession… My first Possession was when the Crimson Python Phoenix crushed my body and sucked my soul into its mouth, because of it, my first act of Possession was naturally successful.

'But the Crimson Python Phoenix was a low ranked ferocious beast. It can't compare with this golden tree. Just its body alone occupies most of the cultivation planet, and its mighty pressure is so incredible that it's terrifying.

'If a person that didn't possess the power of Divine Essence wants to break through the golden sea, it's incredibly difficult.

'Can I succeed..?' Determination appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He looked at the cultivation planet in the distance and charged at the golden sea.

He did not know whether he would succeed, but unless he was willing to be trapped here for twenty-four thousand something years, and that was without factoring in any accidents that might occur during such a long period of time… then this was the only path he could choose.

'That tree is incredibly powerful… but I must succeed. If I Possess it, then my life will change. My fate will become shocking from then on, and everything about me… will be different from the instant I succeed!'

Su Ming's heart raced. The sense of power caused his blood to flow even faster, and it also turned into a great desire.

Instead of saying that this act of Possession was him being unwilling to be trapped for twenty-four thousand something years while possibly running into some accident, it would be more accurate to say that this his attempt to resist fate. He was also incredibly certain that this would be his greatest serendipity!

This serendipity could not be described with words… but its difficulty was also incredibly terrifying. This was something Su Ming knew full well.

The determined look in his eyes grew even stronger, and he traveled faster. As whistling sounds rang in the air, he swiftly rushed through the golden sea like a shooting star.

The mighty pressure descended. The overlapping shadows of the runic symbols in Su Ming's right eye shone, and immediately, three thousand runic symbols appeared to turn into a windstorm. Booming sounds rang out, and that runic symbol windstorm swept up Su Ming, making him even faster. After around the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the cultivation planet was only a thousand feet away from him.

At that moment, there were only seven runic symbols left out of the three thousand. Yet at that instant, Su Ming's right eye shone once more, and another two thousand runic symbols appeared. After having experienced the challenge of this golden sea thrice, Su Ming was much more relaxed compared to his first time. The moment the two thousand runic symbols appeared and the windstorm rose once again, Su Ming had his cultivation base circulate through his entire body at full force.

Boom!

His speed increased exponentially again, and he shot out, becoming faster with each passing moment. When the runic symbol windstorm that rose once again shattered to the point where there was less than ten of them, Su Ming arrived at that cultivation planet.

A hint of excitement could be detected in his eyes. This time, he used up nearly five thousand runic symbols and finally reached the highest layer of wind around the planet. He remembered clearly that the previous time he came here, he had only had five runic symbols left, but now… there were several dozens of them around him. This was enough proof to show that he had become much stronger, not to mention that he still had about two thousand still left in his right eye.

Without any hesitation, Su Ming moved abruptly and brought with him the dozens of gigantic runic symbols to the highest layer of wind. The strong gusts were like blades. As the runic symbols were destroyed, Su Ming's body reached its limit on what it could withstand. When he saw that his flesh and blood were about to be torn, the runic symbols in Su Ming's right eye shone once again.

All of the remaining two thousand appeared and surrounded Su Ming, turning into a windstorm. They swept him up and charged forward while booming sounds reverberated around him nonstop. After a moment, when Su Ming rushed out of that layer of wind, there were still quite a few runic symbols left around him, and his body was not too heavily damaged. Even though he was no longer at the peak of his condition, he was in a much better form compared to the previous times.

Boom!

Su Ming rushed out of the highest layer of wind and stood in the sky of the cultivation planet. The sky was golden, and the land was also golden. An incomparably huge golden tree whose trunk occupied most of the planet stood erect within that world. Compared to that tree, Su Ming's body was as tiny as an ant.

The figures from Su Ming's memories were on the branches like flower buds. These figures were smiling at him at the moment, and their smiles were amiable and warm, as if they were calling him to go over to them.

At that moment, a branch with no flower buds swept towards Su Ming from the distance. The sound as it sliced through the air was piercing to the ears, enough to cause people's hearts to tremble uncontrollably.

Su Ming was familiar with this scene. During the previous few times he was here, he had been struck by this branch, and time had reversed on him, causing him to fail the test.

This time, Su Ming's eyes shone. He sucked in a deep breath, and as the runic symbols all over his body spread out with a bang, they instantly crashed into the incoming branch.

As booming sounds reverberated in the air, all the runic symbols around Su Ming shattered. They seemed extremely weak, having absolutely no chance of fighting back against that branch. And this was only one of the numerous branches on that big tree, a telling sign of how strong it was.

As the runic symbols shattered, the branch came straight at Su Ming and crashed into his body. At the instant the two touched, his body immediately turned into a bloody mess. He also started tumbling backwards. The reversal of time had once again arrived and descended on him.

Yet at the instant the reversal of time begun when the branch touched Su Ming's body, his soul left that body of his for the first time and simply allowed the clone to be swept back. His soul instead pounced on the branch like a ball of transparent air.

The power of time had not only landed on Su Ming's body, but his soul as well, since it was within the area of effect. However, Su Ming was an Abyss Builder. He possessed an innate ability to control time. The moment the time reversal tried to affect his soul, a power that was also that of time reversal erupted from him. At the moment that power went to resist the power of the tree, Su Ming's soul finally touched the branch.

He fused with the tree's branch in a mad frenzy, and he saw a golden world. It was indistinct and contained an innumerable amount of venous pathways. At the center of them, Su Ming saw… a golden heart!

That heart was not beating, as if it was already dead. It was surrounded by the golden venous pathways, and a thick aura of death spread out from within it. That aura of death contained an ancient, waning presence, and it was unknown just how many years had that aura been here.

'Hurry! Hurry! HURRY!' Su Ming roared in his heart. His soul quickly stretched out along the branch. He could sense that a very small portion of the endless venous pathways had already been covered by his soul, and he had a vague feeling that when his soul covered all of these paths, he would successfully Possess this thing.

However, this was, after all, a Possession. He would definitely run into resistance, so the faster he succeeded, the better.

Time passed. One breath went by, and another. Soon, seven breaths passed, but Su Ming's soul had still only stretched out and occupied a very small portion of the paths. At that moment, a furious roar came from the big tree.

Once it resounded, the big tree immediately started trembling. In fact, during that instant, a loud boom that shook the sky and earth erupted from the cultivation planet.

Immediately after, the venous pathways Su Ming could see in his field of vision instantly started twisting as they shone with a golden light. Not only did they cover the golden heart even more tightly, they also vaguely formed a golden runic symbol.

That runic symbol flashed.

Su Ming sensed a power that was so great it could not be described with words. With a mighty power that could kill him, the runic symbol flashed, and then rushed at him with a bang.

There was also an incredibly incensed and slightly terrified will that came along with it.

"Die! Die! DIE!"

That will was incredibly powerful. With a bang, it landed on Su Ming's body and turned into a crazed killing intent. Right at the moment it was about to destroy his soul, though, that power abruptly changed into a power that reversed time.

It was as if there was a law that was controlling everything in the dark, forcefully turning this power that intended to kill Su Ming into the power that reversed time. It brought Su Ming's soul instantly out of the tree's body, and as it up to his body, and he fused once more into it.

"Damn you, Sui Chen Zi! Even if you died, is your law still going to stop me?! I will kill him! I WILL KILL HIM! He is a threat, he is the 3742nd person that tried to Possess me, but he's the only one that made me sense danger!"

This was the final voice Su Ming heard. Once his soul fused with his body, booming sounds echoed by his ears. When everything became quiet and he opened his eyes, he returned to the place with the one hundred thousand stone monuments. The one before him had become twenty-four thousand feet tall.

"I failed…" Su Ming mumbled softly, but soon after, a dark light shone in his eyes. "But I also succeeded!" He lifted his head and stared fixedly at his stone monument.

'I can use all methods at my disposal, and even attempting to Possess the golden tree is allowed. Even if the golden tree tried to kill me in the end, its actions were prevented by Sui Chen Zi's law. It couldn't hurt me in the slightest bit. It only made me return to this place due to the reversal of time.

'If that's the case, then the law Sui Chen Zi set before his death is the highest will in this place. Even that golden tree's actions are limited. It can't kill me, and because of that… I now have an endless amount of chances to Possess it!'

Su Ming's eyes shone. He might have failed, but if he had succeeded so easily, then it would have been incredibly odd. He had failed this time, but obtained a number of proofs and answers, and they brought with them a lot of confidence for him.

'I will definitely be able to Possess that golden tree to build the path of Divine Essence for my future… and I will head towards… becoming a Sublime Paragon!'

Confidence shone in Su Ming's eyes. He sucked in a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.

'Before me, there were 3,731 people who once tried to Possess this golden tree… but none of them succeeded, because their methods of Possession were different from mine. Possessing others to make them into clones is Abyss Builders' inborn ability!

'It only noticed that I wanted to Possess it after seven breaths. This is perhaps due to its previous oversight, but it might also be that it is a specific time set before it notices me. I need to test this several times before I can be certain!'

Su Ming was unaware of it, but making his stone monument reach one million feet was no longer his main focus. His goal turned into Possessing that golden tree.

The failure this time made Su Ming even more determined to Possess that tree. Until he succeeded, he would definitely not give up.