He saw the carca.s.s of the centipede melting after it died, wriggling strangely on the red meadow. Very soon, the carca.s.s of the centipede melted and disappeared right before Su Ming’s eyes as if it was absorbed into the meadow.
Su Ming was shocked when he saw this. Yet he did not feel any danger coming from the area. In fact, there was a warm and comfortable feeling radiating off it. He even had the feeling that this area of 100 feet completely belonged to him.
That feeling was not distinct, but it made Su Ming feel very safe.
He fell into silence and sat down cross-legged. His eyes fell on the unconscious He Feng. That person may be on the meadow, but there were no signs of him melting.
‘Could it be that it only melts dead beings?’
Su Ming stroked his chin and the image of the masked man appeared in his mind.
‘The mask he wore is the same as the mask in He Feng’s bag, but I have a feeling that there’s still a difference between them… He Feng mentioned before that the ancestor of Han Mountain Tribe was not from the Berserker Tribe. His origins were a mystery. Two of the things he used were on He Feng himself. Could it be… that the masked man is He Feng’s direct ancestor..?’
Su Ming thought about it, but since there were no clues, he gradually stopped pondering over it. He sat in the cave calmly instead and brought out Mountain Spirits, swallowing them and silently increasing the power of his Qi.
In the blink of an eye, three months pa.s.sed by.
During these three months, Su Ming felt the world outside trembling four times, a telling sign that Xuan Lun was still suspicious of the place and searched through the rainforest. Yet these four trembles all happened during the first two months. During the last month, the world outside was quiet.
Perhaps it was related to the danger brought by Xuan Lun, but during these three months, Su Ming’s training speed increased by quite a bit. He had now 291 blood veins in his body. The requirement for the eighth level of the Blood Solidification Realm was 399. He only had to manifest a hundred something more blood veins to attain that level.
Yet during this time, Su Ming noticed a flaw in Mountain Spirit. Since he had been taking those pills for a prolonged period of time, the effects of the pill were gradually becoming weaker. Before long, it might completely lose its effects.
Su Ming could do nothing towards this, but he also understood why it happened. If its effects did not decrease, then if he continued taking those pills, he could attain as many blood veins as he wanted as long as he had enough time.
"From the rate of Mountain Spirit weakening, this pill should completely lose its effects once I reach the eighth level of the Blood Solidification Realm."
Su Ming sat within the area of the red meadow and mumbled under his breath as he sensed the circulation within his blood veins.
‘Thank goodness the effects of South Asunder remain and I can use it to heal my injuries… As for my training… it’s not as if I can’t continue training without Mountain Spirit!’
Resolution appeared on Su Ming’s face.
‘I still have two drops of Berserker Blood… Apart from that, I could also cast the Art of burning my blood!’
The moment he thought of the burning of blood, Su Ming took a deep breath. Practicing that Art was incredibly difficult and the process was painful. It was hard for a person to endure through it.
‘The power provided when I performed the fourth burning of blood that year stirred up all the Wings of the Moon to appear, but my blood veins did not increase… If I want to perform the fifth burning of blood, I’ll have to be careful since I’m in the Land of South Morning. There’re a lot of powerful Berserkers around here. If I’m discovered, it’ll be troublesome.’
Su Ming lifted his head and looked towards the entrance of the cave. A chilling look appeared on his face.
‘Xuan Lun, I don’t know whether you’ve left this place or you’re waiting patiently outside the rainforest. I don’t care whether you’re still around, I’m going to stay here.’
Su Ming stood up and went to He Feng’s side. During these three months, He Feng remained unconscious. Even if he showed signs of awakening, Su Ming would disrupt his Qi once every few days and guide a large amount of miasma to surround He Feng’s body, making him continuously absorb it. Once he did that, it would cause He Feng’s injuries to never recover, yet because Su Ming healed him as well, he could not die.
There were no longer any injuries on his body, but the herbs Su Ming had planted in He Feng’s body were getting nourishment from his flesh and blood. They had already taken root within his body and were growing healthily inside.
Two shoots had also sprouted out of the black and white bones beside He Feng. The white bone proved to be suitable for the herbs.
‘I still lack three herbs and a beast bone… It’s a pity I can’t go out for the time being. But Fang Mu wouldn’t give up so easily with his intelligence.’
Su Ming took care of the medicinal cauldron for Spirit Plunder and sat down cross-legged once again. He made an odd sign with his right hand and pushed forward a few times, but was left disappointed.
‘Must I really wake He Feng up and ask him how to cast the Branding Art?’
Su Ming had tried casting the Art multiple times during these three months. He had already understood the Art, but just could not cast it.
Qi was not needed to cast the Art. It seemed like it needed another form of power to be activated, but Su Ming did not have it. He had even specifically observed He Feng’s Qi circulation in an attempt to find the reason, but he could not obtain any clues from He Feng.
He Feng was the same as him. They only had the power of Qi within their bodies.
‘Just how did he cast this Art..?’
Su Ming thought about it for a long time, but could not find any clues. He could only place the problem aside and immerse himself in consuming Mountain Spirit.
The rainy season had pa.s.sed. The heat may still be around, but it had weakened by quite a large margin. The large leaves in the rainforest could not fight against time and started falling off the branches that formed the dense layers of the rainforest.
Another three months pa.s.sed by without notice. Su Ming had stayed within the rainforest for half a year now. During this half a year, he had to constantly circulate his Qi. Only by doing so could he avoid the invasion of miasma.
He also noticed the benefits of doing so. The speed of his Qi increasing was much faster than when he was outside.
During this time, the shoots on the black and white bones had grown into tiny shrubs. The light green color from the herbs let out a piercing light. Yet as they continued growing, the two bones gradually became duller. It was as if all their essence was absorbed by the two shrubs.
As for He Feng… he had completely turned into a medicinal cauldron. There were shrubs upon shrubs of medicinal herbs growing on his body. The herbs had broken through his skin a few months ago like they had just sprouted out of the soil. They were growing healthily.
He Feng’s body was in a withered state to begin with. Now, it was even more obvious.
He had been unconscious for half a year. Even if he had regained consciousness, his mind would remain in a muddled state. Besides, Su Ming did not allow him to have any chances of awakening. The invasion of miasma and healing that happened once every few days caused He Feng to become a living dead person.
Su Ming felt guilty, but when he thought about He Feng’s sinister plans and the things that happened half a year ago… If he had not entered the strange dimension inside that piece of debris when he was in danger, then even if Su Ming was not dead, he would also be in a terrible state.
Su Ming gradually hardened his heart. In his eyes, He Feng was no longer a person, but a medicinal cauldron.
More importantly, Su Ming also slowly realized that if he did not prepare the medicinal pills to open the next door and forcefully entered the strange dimension, a repelling force would appear. He had thought that he could use this method to avoid danger during this half a year and tried multiple times, but he only succeeded once. That repelling force was incredibly strong, and as the blood veins in his body increased, it became harder.
During these three months, the blood veins in his body increased to 337. The effects of Mountain Spirit had also become much weaker. Sometimes, he would need to take in a few pills before he could produce the original effects of one pill.
Fortunately, Su Ming had enough herbs. By using the fire in his body to create the pills, he never ran out of them.
Sometimes, Su Ming would venture out during this half a year to lure in some insects and creatures before killing them within the area of the red meadow so that it could absorb the carca.s.ses.
Besides wanting to see what would happen when the meadow reached its limit and could no longer absorb anymore carca.s.ses, there was another reason why he did so. Once every few months, the area of the 100 feet meadow would decrease, and the color would become dull. Once it absorbed the carca.s.ses, the color would return.
Sometimes, some insects and creatures would come into the cave on their own, a telling sign that they did not notice Su Ming had already occupied the cave and were just coming into the cave based on past habits of resting here.
Besides doing all these, Su Ming also spent his remaining time on the Branding Art. He continued trying and searching for a way to cast it until one day, when he had already comtemplated it for half a year and still had no clues, he thought of a way.
He remembered there was a large amount of stone coins in He Feng’s bag. There was also the stone box that contained the leaf that would be used for synthesis during Awakening, which was created using a large number of white stone coins.
He had been uncertain and took a guess that stone coins could be used for purposes other than trading. Once he remembered it, an idea formed in his head.
‘Could it be that external materials are needed for He Feng’s Branding Art..?’
Su Ming took out the purple bag and brought out one white stone coin. The coin was round, and when he held it in his hand, there was some warmth coming from it. Su Ming never paid too much attention to it, but now that he scrutinized it, he gradually realized the difference in the stone coin compared to other stones.
‘This type of stone is used among all Berserker Tribes and yet there has never been any previous record of a fake coin existing. It must be because there is a secret that people don’t know about… I’ve always overlooked this…’
Su Ming’s eyes flashed. Once he held the stone in his hand, he made the strange sign with his right hand with one well-practiced motion, then pushed forward lightly, just like how he did the previous hundreds of times he practiced this method.
The moment he pushed forward, something changed in Su Ming’s mind. He could clearly feel his body absorbing a foreign sensation from the white stone coin. That sensation charged into his right hand through a path completely different from the path taken when his Qi circulated in his body. Once it went one round around his pinched fingers in his right hand, it immediately became much stronger before abruptly contracting and charging straight towards his head, faster than Su Ming could react to stop it. With a bang, the foreign sensation stormed into his mind.
His vision blurred for a moment, and then he saw a completely different world.
Within a circ.u.mference of 1,000 feet, all that existed appeared in his mind. He saw a centipede silently swimming in the mud 900 feet away.
He saw a flying insect the size of his palm hiding under a large leave 500 feet away. It was baring its teeth and staring at a small beast walking cautiously under the tree.
He also saw a dim light in the unconscious He Feng’s head silently absorbing the medicinal properties from the roots of the herbs that were planted in his body and had now covered his body, as if it was using the power from the herbs to increase its own power. There was also one thread that went out of the cave from the center of his brows.
When Su Ming saw it, the dim light immediately trembled and he heard a faint, terrified scream.
"Hmm?"
Su Ming narrowed his eyes. At that moment, his expression suddenly changed and a strong sense of danger flooded his system. That danger did not come from He Feng, but from the borders of the 1,000 feet area that he could now sense with his mind. It came from a woman walking into the rainforest. She was dressed in white and covered her face with a veil.
Han Fei Zi!