912 Ancient Ballad

"There is an ancient ballad…

"In that ballad was a lonely old man…

"In the old man's eyes was a boundless world…

"That was during the time when the Gods existed. It was an age when all manner of living contended against each other. It was… a law when the universe operated due to a single person's will…"

A faint voice rose swiftly in Su Ming's mind and echoed in his head. The ancient air in that voice gave Su Ming a feeling that the owner was even older than Sui Chen Zi.

"People worshiped this old man. They used strange items as offerings to him, strange treasures as sacrifices for him… so that they could obtain the right for themselves or their race to be written in the ballad…

"Legends say that all the people or races written in the ballad will not decay as long as that ballad exists, and they would also grow from normal beings to prosperous existences…

"However, over the course of numerous years, only nine lives and four races obtained the old man's acknowledgement with the items they offered and were written into his ballad…

"From then on… those nine lives and four races began their legend as eternal entities…"

Su Ming's mind rumbled as the voice in his head became even more ancient. While it continued echoing in his head, it was like the universe had come to a stop at that instant and Su Ming's consciousness was the only thing that moved, tumbling about.

It was also during the instant that the voice echoed in his head that a loud bang rang out in his mind, shaking his soul. In the mid of it, a layer of distortions suddenly appeared around him. In the blink of an eye, they turned into a gigantic vortex. As it spun, it devoured Su Ming like a huge gaping mouth in space, and he disappeared without a trace in the galaxy.

Su Ming's heart trembled, but he did not panic. This was not the first time he had this sort of experience. This was… the process of entering the dimension in the fragment. When everything before his vision cleared, he looked around him, and a familiar sight appeared in front of his eyes.

Fog surrounded the area, making everything around him indistinct, but he saw a mountain in the distance. The door in the mountain was open, as if it was waiting for his arrival. All of this was just as he had seen before. This was… the world in the black stone fragment.

However, this time, Su Ming did not take the initiative to come to this place. Instead, some strange changes had occurred to the black fragment which forcefully sucked him inside.

Almost at the instant Su Ming looked towards the mountain, voices that sounded like roars rang out in the world of the stone fragment. These voices were like heavy breaths, and as they reverberated in the air, the land started trembling.

Su Ming's pupils constricted.

He saw nine indistinct ferocious beasts with the shells of turtles, the heads of dragons, and the tails of snakes in the sea of clouds in the sky above. As they roared, they descended from the sea of clouds.

Each one of them was tens of thousands of feet big, and that heavy breathing came from their mouths. There was a chain around each of their bodies, and as they descended, these chains were stretched taut, as if there was some strange item in the sea of clouds and these nine dark turtles intended to drag it out.

As the roars became stronger, Su Ming gradually saw… a mountain in the sea of mountains. It was forcefully dragged out, and when most of its body appeared, it landed on the ground with a bang.

The height and the majestic feeling this mountain gave off surpassed those of the mountain that existed here before. In truth, when the two were put in comparison, they looked like a giant and a child.

The gigantic second mountain was several times larger than the first mountain. It also had a gigantic stone door, and on that door were written several ancient letters.

A ghastly feeling spread out from those letters, and that feeling was incredibly great. Su Ming felt like his soul and his body were being corroded away at the instant he saw them

His heart trembled as he looked at the letters. At the instant he saw them, he naturally understood the meaning those words they tried to convey.

Nurture, decaying spirit.

The second part stood for: When all lives die, everything about rots away That was the meaning! However, the nurture before the other two words made Su Ming a little uncertain. He was not entirely clear about what it meant and could not decipher its specific meaning.

When the mountain descended, the chains on the nine gigantic dark turtles who had dragged it out of the sea of clouds slowly faded away, as if they were to completely disappear. It was as if they… could now be free. Delight, excitement, and exhilaration appeared on the nine turtles' faces, and it was so great they could not hide it.

There was a storm raging in Su Ming's heart at that moment. He had not expected that there would be a second mountain in the black stone fragment and that it would appear in front of him at this moment.

Su Ming was no longer the child he once was in the past. His experiences had caused his will to be incredibly firm, while the ups and downs he faced had trained him to be very skilled in working out things around him.

'If there is a second mountain, then there is definitely a third mountain. Judging by when this second mountain appeared, it's clear… that this was due to the fragment absorbing the light blue glow from that Waves of Tears.

'This is the key!'

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He had only opened a couple doors in the first mountain within the fragment's dimension, so he did not know how many had been left, and he did not have enough medicinal pills on his person at that moment either, which was why he could not choose to continue venturing into the first mountain.

'The key to the second mountain's appearance was the spirit that appeared after the Waves of Tears died. The name of the second mountain is Decaying Spirit. I... should learn what the second mountain contains.'

After remaining silent for a moment, he looked at the nine dark turtles whose chains had started disappearing. His eyes sparkled, and without any hesitation, he charged towards the door of the second mountain.

The fog in the land was like an ocean. As it tumbled about, Su Ming moved through. The second mountain did not seem far, but when went to it, there was some distance between them. After a moment, when Su Ming stood at the foot of the mountain, he lifted his head, and a feeling of shock rose in his heart.

Compared to the mountain, Su Ming was like an ant. In fact, even if he only compared himself to the gate, he was still very insignificant. He sucked in a deep breath. Based on his experience, he lifted his right hand before the stone gate to the second mountain and placed it there.

Almost at the moment his hand came into contact with the mountain gate, booming sounds that shook the sky and earth reverberated in the air. They continued spreading outwards, and the gate to the second mountain swung inwards in front of Su Ming.

While standing still, he felt a cold breeze blowing through the gap in the opened gate. It lifted his long hair and caused his robes to flutter. There seemed to be muffled mumbling sounds that could not be heard clearly in the wind, as if it was saying how ancient it was...

Su Ming quietly waited for the mountain gate to open completely, then a brilliant light shone in his eyes. In front of him was a gigantic cave that was dark inside. Not a single hint of light could be seen within, only a gust of waning wind blew past him.

Su Ming sucked in a deep breath and took a step towards the cave.

Almost at the moment his foot landed, dark light lit up the cave. The light came from the oil lamps had had come to life out of nowhere. As the tunnel was illuminated by the dark light, the ghastly feeling became even greater, but Su Ming was now able to see his surroundings clearly.

At the moment he did so, his pupils constricted, and the foot he had lifted froze in the air. He saw several totems on the walls around him. Those totems had pictures, and in those pictures… were endless Waves of Tears!

They looked extremely alive, but their expressions were hideous, as if they wanted to rush out of the totems. This gave a strong visual impact to anyone who saw them.

At the end of the cave, Su Ming saw the first stone door of the second mountain!

There was a light blue glow at the center of the stone door at the moment. The glow flickered, and each time it did so, endless light blue threads would spread out, covering the entire door like a cobweb.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment, then lifted his foot and walked towards the end of the cave, straight towards the door. After a moment, when he arrived at the stone door, he fell into pensive silence. Based on his past experiences, he lifted his right hand and pressed his palm against the mountain gate.

At the instant his hand touched the door, his long hair began to dance in the air, and his eyes swiftly gained focus.

"At the end of the ancient ballad… the old man closed his eyes…

"The nine lives and four races became eternal entities that would never decay in the ballad…

"The old man turned into a statue. The statue was black, and he… shattered, turning into thirteen pieces that scattered into the world…

"Before they scattered, five words echoed in the minds of the nine lives and four races… Seed of Life Extermination.

"This is a cycle of life. This is a cycle… in which the will of the universe moves from being something that existed into something that does not exist. It is also… a cycle in which it went from something that did not exist to something that existed.

"Welcome back, you who possess the blood of the Abyss Builders and the will of Ecang. The Seed of Life Extermination has been resurrected because of you…

"The first spirit you offered is the spirit of the Wave of Tears. There is a flaw in this spirit. Find that flaw, and you can exterminate this race… You have endless time. Go to the place where you offered medicinal pills in the past and create a Decaying Spirit Core that will stimulate the flaw in this spirit. If you give up… you will show that you have not chosen the Wave of Tears' spirit as your first step to nurture Life Extermination Spirit," the voice said in Su Ming's head.

That voice seemed to be something that was left behind from ancient times. By then, it was slowly disappearing, the instant it vanished, Su Ming's mind trembled.

A huge suction force spread out from the stone gate, but it was not sucking Su Ming's body. Instead, it was absorbing his will.

It was a force that he could not resist, and so he swiftly closed his eyes.

His body was still in the cave, his hand was still on the stone door, but his soul had been sucked inside, immersed in an age that was ancient in Su Ming's eyes.

It was a galaxy without stars. In it was a vast ancient ship that was broken, and as it drifted in the galaxy, an old man sat at the bow, looking into the distance quietly. He did not move.

Su Ming also looked into the distance, and he became the old man.

From his position, he could see a black dot flying towards him from far away. It was a crane with a prideful and sleazy expression on its face. The creature's presence was extremely peculiar and kept on changing all the time.

The crane was flapping its wings and flying swiftly towards the area. Behind it were hundreds of thousands… of Waves of Tears. They were trapped in a gigantic net and were towed by the crane to this place.

"Hey, old man. The offering I brought to you this time is most of the members of a race~"