Chapter 409: Refining a Puppet
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming lifted his left hand and pushed against the vortex behind him through the air. Immediately, a large amount of freezing air spilled out from his body and enveloped the gate. Rumbling sounds reverberated in the air, and immediately, the Gate to the Void turned into a giant ice block.
Once he was done, Su Ming let out a happy laugh. He looked at the small snake on his palm. He might have not seen it for only half a year, but to him, he had gone through a lot of things during the past six months. It felt like a long time had gone by since he left the cave abode till he came back.
The small snake cried out and hissed on Su Ming’s palm. The freezing look in its eyes had been replaced by joy, and it lowered its head to snuggle at Su Ming’s palm.
It was too small, only as thick as his finger, and once it started doing something like this, it looked rather adorable.
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath. He might have returned to his cave abode, but the freezing air in his body had not completely dissipated. As it continued spreading from under his feet, the ground at a circular area of several thousands of feet with him as its center was instantly covered in ice. Wisps of white mist rose in the air and floated about, causing the temperature in the area to immediately be reduced by a large half.
That was not all. A large amount of water droplets appeared on Su Ming’s body. Those water droplets seeped out of his skin and looked like sweat, but in truth, he knew that those were the results of the freezing air in his body.
A glint appeared in his eyes. All his pores immediately closed up, and at that instant, the freezing air spreading outwards died down somewhat. There were still faint wisps of cold air though.
‘I can’t let all the freezing air in my body leave, or else it’ll take me a long time to get used to the temperature again if I ever go to the glacier at the seabed of the Dead Sea,’ Su Ming thought in his heart.
He lifted the small snake and moved his right hand to his shoulder. Once he did so, the small snake immediately flew up and landed on his shoulder, lying down there, looking as if it was lounging on his shoulder.
Su Ming looked at his familiar cave abode, and the excitement in his eyes gradually disappeared. When his gaze fell on the two corpses on the ground, his eyes lit up with a freezing glare.
"Ji Yun Hai…" Su Ming looked at the thin, dried up corpse, and could not help but remember what had happened during his fight with Madam Ji. He walked towards Ji Yun Hai’s corpse at an unhurried pace.
Crouching down, he placed his hand on Ji Yun Hai’s corpse. After observing it closely for a few moments, a pensive look appeared in his eyes, then he dipped his head down to look at the large amount of black beetles that had not died but had only fallen into deep sleep scattered around Ji Yun Hai’s corpse. The strength of these small insects left an incredibly deep impression on Su Ming that day.
‘I wonder how many years it has been since Ji Yun Hai died and he was turned into a puppet by Madam Ji. She has died now, and if I could control this puppet, then it’d be able to help me when I go to the glacier!’
Su Ming lifted two fingers and picked up one of the black beetles on the ground, bringing it up to his face. He observed it for a long time.
‘This bug… isn’t a puppet. How did Madam Ji control it?’ Su Ming stared at the small bug for a long while before his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked towards Ji Yun Hai’s corpse.
‘Could it be that these insects aren’t controlled by Madam Ji but by Ji Yun Hai? Even if Ji Yun Hai had been turned into a puppet, the insects are still affected by their own instincts, right?’
Su Ming lowered his head and looked at the red ring on his right hand’s finger. With a sparkle in his eyes, he stood up and started pacing about outside his cave abode, a frown between his brows.
Sometimes he would look pensive, and at other times delighted, but eventually, his mood became one of uncertainty. It was as if there was something that made it difficult for him to make a decision.
After the burning of an incense stick, Su Ming came to a halt and turned his head to the side, looking at the oval-shaped vortex that sent him back here, placed not too far away from him - the Gate to the Void.
That gate was floating there quietly, covered in ice. It had already turned into a huge block of ice.
‘I have no idea how long I’ve been unconscious, but judging by the changes in the cave abode, once I add all the time together, it shouldn’t have been more than a year since I left… and I was in the glacier for about three months after I woke up…’
Su Ming remembered himself being at what seemed like the bottom part of the Dead Sea and the things he went through during the past three months in that dark world in the glacier.
He used half a month to walk out of the glacier for the first time, but right when he walked out, the pressure of the black seawater immediately fell on him, and it was incredibly difficult for him to even move one step.
Then he used another one and a half months to somewhat get used to the pressure in the sea so he could walk about one thousand feet. Once he took each step, he had to lift his foot quickly, or else it would be instantly encased by the glacier. This made it incredibly difficult for him to stop on the glacier, and he had to constantly make sure he kept moving at a fast pace.
At a spot eight hundred something feet away from the ice block where he was previously was the closest thing sealed in the glacier among the countless other living beings there, and he had sensed it earlier with his divine sense.
It was a ferocious looking man with green scales covering his entire body. That man was sixty feet tall and his muscles had swelled up as if there was a shocking amount of power contained within. He had his left hand clenched in a fist, and he held a gigantic club in his right hand.
Su Ming had no idea what that club was made of. It was entirely black, and there were nine sharp teeth sticking out of it. It left a savage impression on people, and at the same time, there was also an air about the club that would leave fear in people’s hearts.
That gigantic spiked club was clearly a treasure!
After several days of observation, and once he was certain that the frozen man no longer had a hint of life left in him, he used half a month to test out all sorts of methods to break through that ice. In the end, he had only managed to crack several inches of the ice, and once he stopped, the cracks would automatically close up.
With Su Ming’s current level of cultivation, leaving a crack of several inches was already his limit. He was also puzzled by it. After all, he could break through the ice that had encased him, but it was taking him a lot of effort just trying to break that layer of ice sealing the man.
Once Su Ming pondered over it, he obtained his answer - the cause was the length of time the both of them were sealed!
From the unique characteristic of him instantly being frozen the moment his feet landed on the glacier, it was clear that it had not been a long time since he was sealed in his block of ice, which was why he could break out of it. However, it was different for the ice encasing this man. It must have been around for ages.
If Su Ming wanted to break the ice in which the man was sealed, then he needed a higher level of cultivation. After hesitating for a moment, Su Ming used half a month to dig out the Gate to the Void from the ice. Once he examined it for a moment, he went through the gate and returned to the cave abode.
While staring at the Gate to the Void, Su Ming frowned.
‘Judging by the Immortals’ system, I’m now at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Stage. I don’t know what Realm these Nascent Soul Cultivators would be if compared to us Berserkers… but from what I can sense, it should be around my current level now… However, the power of the Immortals is lasting and they’re skilled in using divine abilities…
‘If that’s the case, then I can still make some assessments.’ Su Ming averted his gaze from the Gate to the Void and started thinking.
‘The early stage of the Nascent Soul Stage is around my current level, where I have four Berserker Bones… if it’s the mid stage, then I guess it would be about the level where I have more than ten Bones? If this assumption is correct, then the late Nascent Soul would be equivalent to when I have twenty something bones, and the Soul Formation Stage among the Immortals should be the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm…
‘That should be it. An epiphany is required for the Immortals’ Soul Formation. If the Nascent Divinity is born from the body, then it would be an existence that surpasses the Nascent Soul. As for the Berserker Tribe, once we reach the Berserker Soul Realm, we can manifest our very own statue of the God of Berserkers.
"If I make this comparison, one of them is the Nascent Divinity in the body, and the other is the statue of the God of Berserkers outside the body. They both have similarities!
‘As for the Soul Transformation Stage, which is above the Immortals’ Soul Formation, that would be… the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm! Then in the Immortals’ system, the peak of the First Step, Ascendant, should be the latter stage of the Berserker Soul Realm.
‘The Immortals’ system has a Illusory Yin and Corporeal Yang state between the First Step and the Second Step. Judging by that case, then this Illusory Yin and Corporeal Yang is equivalent to the full great completion of the Berserker Soul Realm. If they manage to breakthrough, then according to their system, the Immortals will truly arrive at the Second Step!
‘It’s a pity that the Berserkers’ cultivation system has been cut off after the Berserker Soul Realm. But there’s definitely a similar Realm among the Berserker Tribe to the Immortal Tribe’s Second Step!’ Su Ming closed his eyes, and after a long while, he reopened them.
‘I’m practicing both the Immortals and Berserkers’ cultivation methods… but it’s a pity, I can’t combine these two powers. When I cast the Immortals’ Arts, the power of the Berserkers will fall silent, and when I use the power of the Berserkers, I can’t cast the Immortals’ divine abilities… besides my divine sense operating as usual, I can’t use any other Arts.
‘Still, even so, if I use them alternately, then my battle prowess… will be stronger by a large margin compared to when I was half a year ago!’ Su Ming clenched his fists. Once he swept his gaze past the land, his eyes fell on the dried up corpse belonging to the tribe leader of Black Crane.
Su Ming walked towards him. He looked at the corpse coldly, and eventually stared at the person’s right leg. There was a wound over there that had clearly not recovered, along with a gigantic, dead scorpion.
‘This person is the one I injured from Black Crane Tribe.’ A chilling glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He had been quite puzzled before about Madam Ji’s arrival. That distinct killing intent was clearly directed towards him.
Both White Bull Tribe and Black Crane Tribe were suspects. However, in his heart, Su Ming held more suspicion towards Black Crane Tribe. When he saw the tribe leader’s corpse, a cold sneer appeared at the corners of his lips.
Madam Ji’s appearance had made Su Ming experience many things during the past half a year. There were good things and bad things, but his narrow escape from death made it impossible for him to let Black Crane Tribe, who was the instigator for Madam Ji’s arrival, off!
Su Ming’s eyes were freezing cold. With a swing of his arm, he brought Ji Yun Hai’s corpse and the sleeping black beetles back to his cave abode, along with the small virescent sword that came flying towards him automatically with a whistle.
Once he returned to his cave abode, Su Ming immediately went to the stone chamber with the medicinal cauldron. When he saw that everything was as it was, he felt relieved. Then he went to the stone chamber with the old Berserker.
Once he saw that the old man was now covered head to toe in black, and his body was filled with bite marks, Su Ming was momentarily stunned. The small snake on his shoulder immediately lifted its head with a pleased look on its face, looking forward to being praised for its deeds.
Su Ming smiled. Once he swept his gaze past the old Berserker’s body, a glint of curiosity appeared in his eyes.
‘I’m not a Soul Catcher. Trying to create a Soul Catcher Puppet will be very difficult for me… but now that I have the Immortals’ power… Hong Luo had some divine abilities he left with me that can allow Nascent Soul Cultivators to cast their own puppets…’ Su Ming stroked his chin, then sent a thought to the small snake on his shoulder.
The small snake immediately flew up and charged out of the cave abode, floating in midair while keeping vigilance of its surroundings, protecting Su Ming.