Chapter 284: Ninth Summit’s Call to Assemble!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"If you don’t cure him, he won’t be able to live for long either. First, his power will fade away, and once he loses his power, his body will be the next to be go, and eventually his life force will also fade away. When he is truly and completely dead, he will turn into a Phantom and return to his Master’s side," Bai Su stated softly.
"Northern Frontier Tribe also belongs to Freezing Sky. If Zhuo Ge kills Zi Che, won’t Freezing Sky Clan take action?"
Su Ming looked at the cocoon in his hand. The cocoon had completely hardened up by then and felt like an ice rock in his hand.
"Don’t… Don’t you know?"
Bai Su was taken aback, she looked if she just understood something. She cast a look at Zi Che and a complicated look appeared in her eyes.
"What?" Su Ming lifted his head and looked at Bai Su.
"Three months ago, Zi Che’s Master notified the Mountain Gate and chased him out of the second summit… He’s no longer a Freezing Sky Clan disciple…"
Su Ming’s eyes flashed with a dark light and he looked towards Zi Che, who was sitting on the platform with a pale but determined face; he could not hear Su Ming and Bai Su’s words. Right now, he had to make sure to keep curing himself, or else he would not be able to fight against the power of the arrow.
"Three months ago…"
Su Ming understood it then. This thing had happened during the five days he was gone from Freezing Sky Clan. Yet he had seen nothing out of place from Zi Che.
However, it was clear that this was not something unimportant to Zi Che.
"If that’s not the case, then there would’ve been no need for him to lower his head in shame every time he saw his sister…" Bai Su sighed softly.
Su Ming stayed silent, looking at the cocoon in his hand. After a long while, he gave it a squeeze.
"You said that this bug isn’t something from Freezing Sky and that it dies when it’s exposed to the cold?"
Su Ming’s voice was calm. Not a hint of emotion could be heard from his tone.
Bai Su nodded.
Su Ming crouched down and picked up a bug that was so stiff that it seemed dead. Once he held it in his hand, a powerful ball of fire abruptly appeared on Su Ming’s palm and enveloped that bug.
That bug’s rigid body suddenly trembled within the fire, then flipped over energetically. It screeched and started moving as if it wanted to crawl into Su Ming’s body through his palm.
Yet before it could enter, the fire on Su Ming’s palm was snuffed out. As chilling wind blew past, Su Ming clenched his fist. Cracking sound rang out, and Su Ming relaxed his grip.
Bai Su sucked in a sharp breath when she saw that the black bug in Su Ming’s palm had turned to pieces.
"This bug wasn’t dead, it just went into slumber. It’ll wake up once again when it becomes hot!" Su Ming flicked his wrist, and the pieces in his palm scattered into the wind. "That is the case for the bug, and it is the same for the cocoon."
Su Ming’s voice was freezing cold. A scene from his memories rose before his eyes. He saw a chain, and on that chain was an illusionary figure of a person. There were numerous wounds covering that person’s entire body, and within those wounds were countless black bugs that were identical to the bug he just held!
‘Lei Chen…’
Su Ming closed his eyes. He hadn’t known whether what he saw on the Chains of Han Mountain was real or fake, and he still couldn’t tell even now. Yet the appearance of these black bugs shook him.
He had never seen them before he challenged the Chains of Han Mountain, so there had been the possibility of it just being a figment of his imagination or that it was a mere illusion, but now that he saw the exact same bug, there was no way Su Ming would believe that he had imagined it.
‘If it’s real, then why is the truth different from my memories..? If it’s fake, then how could something of my imagination exist in the real world, and in the exact same form too!
‘This is a clue!’
Su Ming opened his eyes and Bai Su’s soft whispers fell into his ears.
"Let me try for Zi Che…" she whispered, looking straight at Su Ming.
"Don’t need to. There’s a method with which I can cure Zi Che completely without any risk," Su Ming stated calmly. His voice was cold, and a red glare shone from his right eye.
"What method is that?"
Bai Su was taken aback. She did not understand the meaning behind Su Ming’s words.
"Kill Zhuo Ge and destroy his Phantom, then the Phantom Aura on the arrow sticking out of Zi Che’s leg will disappear naturally." Once Su Ming finished speaking, he looked at Bai Su. "You know this area better than I do. Bring me to Northern Frontier Tribe!"
Bai Su bit her bottom lip and stared at Su Ming with wide-eyed astonishment, but she still shook her head firmly.
"With your power, if you go to Northern Frontier Tribe alone, you’ll definitely die. I won’t take you there!"
"I’m not alone."
Su Ming turned and let out a piercing howl towards the sky. That howl echoed through the entire ninth summit, causing the glaciers to tremble and rumble loudly.
When that howl started, Hu Zi was drinking in his cave with his eyes closed and a silly grin on his face. He was just about to hug his wine gourd and go to sleep so that he would have enough energy for his nightly activities.
Yet the moment he was about to close his eyes and begin snoring, Su Ming’s piercing howl shot into his cave. That howl was like a rumbling thunder, causing Hu Zi’s cave to tremble, and Hu Zi to opened his eyes. He rubbed them hard and a surprised look appeared within them.
"What’s wrong with fourth?"
But he did not hesitate, Hu Zi immediately picked up his pot of wine and rushed out of his cave before running towards Su Ming’s cave abode.
At the same time, around the middle of the ninth summit was a spot where a large amount of flowers bloomed. Green leaves covered the entire area and created a scene on the ice that looked as if time had traveled back.
Su Ming’s second senior brother sat cross-legged among the flowers, maintaining a position in which the sun would always shine on the side of his face. There was a gentle smile on his face, and before him, many of the plants were swaying even though there was no wind. Some of those plants were growing rapidly and intertwining with each other as if they were trying to knit something.
There was an intense look of concentration on the second senior brother’s face. Yet at that moment, Su Ming’s howl reverberated through the ninth summit. There was a shocking amount of killing intent within that howl. The plants that were knitting something before the second senior brother froze momentarily under that killing intent.
Surprise appeared on the second senior brother’s face. He lifted his head and looked at where Su Ming’s cave was located in the distance.
"Who offended youngest junior brother now?"
Second senior brother stood up at a moderate pace and patted his robes before placing his hands behind his back and walking towards Su Ming’s cave abode with the sun shining on the side of his face.
His feet may have seemed to be stepping on the ground, but in truth, every single time his feet landed, they would stay an inch away from the ground!
Similarly, as Su Ming’s howl traveled through the ninth summit, at the ice located at the position downwind of the ninth summit, a gaze appeared in the darkness in the place that was always used as an isolation grounds.
Faint mumbling sounds came from within the silent glacier.
"Such killing intent… If he doesn’t release it, it’ll be difficult for him to clear his mind… Youngest junior brother, you may want to go release it, but I still can’t go out…"
Yet suddenly, an ice rock that was about the height of a person suddenly cracked. Fire spread out from within that crack, looking as if it was burning that ice rock. In an instant, more cracks appeared on the ice rock, and it eventually exploded.
The moment it exploded, a black hand stretched out from within the ice rock!
A powerful gust of freezing wind spread from that black hand. Once it stretched out, it pressed against the ice floor by its side, and gradually, as if someone was crawling out, a man whose skin was completely black appeared.
That man was half naked. When he crawled out, he closed his eyes and knelt down on one knee in the direction of the gaze.
"All 300 of my slaves stopped the slaughter at the same time as I did in the past and joined me when I isolated myself here… Now, I’ve awakened you, one of the 300 slaves. Go and do something for me."
"Your instructions, Young Master!"
The man opened his grey eyes. Within those grey eyes were madness and mercilessness. While those could cause people to feel a chill creeping into their hearts, they would also be able to clearly sense the bloodthirst coming from within the man.
"Protect my junior brothers and listen to them. If necessary… I will allow you to cast the Forbidden Curses!"
The gaze within the ice glaciers gradually disappeared. Only the words remained floating in the air, and as they echoed calmly, they radiated with bloodlust.
That man grinned and licked his lips. He bowed and stood up. The moment he took a step forward, his body immediately turned into a layer of black mist that crawled into the ice walls around him before disappearing.
At the same time, at the top of the ninth summit, Tian Xie Zi yawned and stretched his back as he walked out from his cave. As he walked, mumbling sounds could be heard spilling out from his lips as well.
Once he reached the top of the mountain, he took a deep breath, laid down facing the ground with both hands supporting his entire body and started doing pushups. Once he did a few of them, he stood up, and a contented smile appeared on his lips.
"I did ten today. That’s one more than last year! That’s great! That’s wonderful! That’s marvelous! Tian Xie Zi, you’re just too amazing. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life!
"Tian Xie Zi, you awesome bugger, I’m proud of you!"
With a pleased smile on his face, Tian Xie Zi mumbled to himself for a moment before lifting his head. He was just about to let out a roar towards the sky like how he usually did every day before he flew in a certain direction to train his body in the morning when he stopped.
The moment he opened his mouth to roar, someone did it before him and let out a piercing howl. That howl rumbled like thunder and traveled in all directions, stunning Tian Xie Zi.
"Hmm? I haven’t even shouted, why’s there sound?"
Tian Xie Zi blinked and lifted his hand to cover his mouth. When he heard that the sound was still echoing in the air, he quickly crouched down and looked down the edge of the peak with his neck outstretched.
"Fourth’s cry is really unpleasant. Hmm? Third is rushing over… Ah! Second is also going over! Well, I’ll be damned! That eldest disciple of mine in isolation is also joining in?!
"Are they going to fight? Haha, this is going to be fun!"
An excited glimmer appeared in Tian Xie Zi’s eyes. He quickly rolled up his sleeves with a look as if he wanted to join in.
As Su Ming’s howl echoed in the air, Hu Zi was the first to appear on the platform outside Su Ming’s cave abode. The moment he came to the platform, he saw the wretched state Zi Che was in and an angry glare immediately appeared in his eyes.
"Bloody hell, who hurt my kitten?!"
Soon, second senior brother walked towards them with his hands behind his back and a gentle smile on his face, but the moment he saw Zi Che’s condition, that smile on his face disappeared.
"Youngest junior brother, who did this?!"
Su Ming looked at Zi Che and stated calmly, "Zhuo Ge, Black Arrow Berserker of Northern Frontier Tribe. He’s the son of Zhuo Ya, Northern Frontier’s Chief of War."
"Bloody hell, I’m going to f*ck his birdie up! How dare he touch my kitten?!" Hu Zi roared.
"This… is not good…" Second senior brother shook his head and a faint smile appeared once again on his lips, but this time, there was a frightening quality to that smile.
"We won’t f*ck his birdie up. We’ll cuthis birdie off and eat it!"
The smile on the second senior brother’s lips grew wider.
As Bai Su continued listening to them, her face turned red and she clicked her tongue in distaste.