Pursuit of the Truth

If he wanted to change something useless into a treasure, then he needed the power to defend it.

‘By the looks of it, no one among the Shamans has figured out anything about this place yet. After all, if I hadn’t understood the basis behind the Execution of Three Evils, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out the secret in this place either.

‘I wonder if the Immortals who descend to this land can see it. However, the pattern of the place was formed largely due to the bloody wind blowing from the east. If I consider it this way, then this wind only started blowing about a year ago due to the Eastern Wastelands. It’s only been a short time since it happened. Even if there are people who could understand the patterns in this place, they wouldn’t have had time to notice this area.

‘If I gave up, it would be a pity.’

Resolution appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.

He knew for sure that he would not give up on this place, and since he was certain of it, then what he needed to do next was to think of countermeasures for the possible things that might happen in the future and set up his defenses for his first cave in the land of the Shamans.

‘I won’t change the main body of the pattern for the Three Evils, but there are some minor details that need to be modified.’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled, then he charged towards the eastern section of the mountain range. His body would occasionally appear within the mountain range, and green light could also be seen shining there. Clearly, Su Ming was using the sharp blade of his Virescent Light Sword to transform the mountain.

A day later, he went to the northern section of the mountain range and did to it what he had previously done to the eastern section. Once he cut off some of the sections of the mountain that did not fit into his requirements, he added some disguises for it, only then did he return to the corner connecting the east and north mountain ranges.

Su Ming stood there and fell into a moment of pensive silence before he took a step forward, charging down towards the canyon containing the thick fog and bloody stench as if he had just fallen down a cliff.

He was so quick that in the blink of an eye, he had already reached the bottom of the cliff. Most of the plants there were purplish black and gave off a very aggressive air. Some of the vines even started swaying and shot towards Su Ming as he fell down.

Su Ming did not bother with them. Once he avoided those vines and arrived at the bottom of the cliff, green light shone at the center of his brows. The small sword instantly flew out and slashed down towards the mountain range. Su Ming stood by the side and spread out his divine sense, covering the entire area within it. He examined it once again, and was satisfied.

Over the past few days, he had searched through the place many times and was certain that he did not miss any spot. Besides him, there was no other person in this place.

When Su Ming spread his divine sense to explore the place, the Virescent Light Sword had already opened up a cave on the wall before him. The crushed stones in the cave were also reduced to ashes. By Su Ming’s will, the small virescent sword opened up eight stone chambers in the cave, turning the place into a gigantic cave abode that laid within a mountain.

Once the cave abode was formed, the wind blowing from the east brought in the bloody stench from the canyon outside and charged into the cave abode. In an instant, the cave abode was filled with that wind, causing the place to look rather foggy, just like how it was outside.

Su Ming had expected this phenomenon to happen way beforehand. With a calm expression, he walked into the cave abode and his body disappeared in that fog. When he reappeared, he was at the end of the cave abode. There was a gigantic wall that was about 1,000 feet in height. It was the shell of the mountain that was left behind after he had emptied out the place.

The shell was several dozens of feet in breadth. Wind would crash on it and its path forward would be blocked off.

Su Ming stood beside the stone wall and lifted his right hand to press on it. With a light burst of power from his Berserker Bones, a crack instantly spread from his hands. Cracking sounds echoed in the air, and instantly, several cracks that were spreading out went through that stone wall and connected with the outermost layer of the wall.

Su Ming took a few steps away from that spot and went to another side, repeating the same action eight times. Once he did so, there were already several cracks like the first crack on that 1,000 feet stone wall. However, Su Ming had demonstrated skill when he did this. There may be a lot of cracks, but the wall did not show any signs of crumbling.

Almost the instant these cracks were formed and opened up a tunnel connecting the cave with the outside world, a gust of wind blew in from the entrance of the cave. The wind did not remain in the cave but seeped into the cracks and charged into the world outside.

At that moment, the mountain range that previously blocked off the wind could no longer hold back its movements completely. There were gaps in the mountain now, causing the wind to continuously blow out, and the entire pattern in the mountain range instantly became alive.

As wind continuously blew past Su Ming’s side and out through the cracks on the stone wall, Su Ming could clearly sense the power of the world from all around the place slowly gathering towards the mountain range. It was as if the dragon’s head had awakened and was starting to breathe lightly.

If a person exercised this, then the power of the world would drift towards them, and their power would start circulating in their bodies. Similarly, the breathing formed through this pattern was akin to that of a dragon breathing, like that of a mountain breathing. The entire mountain range trembled lightly, and the power of the world started circulating while traveling in an inconspicuous manner.

The plants that lived in the mountain started shivering, as if they were opening all parts of their bodies to absorb the power of the world that was coming towards them from all directions.

At the same time, Su Ming also sensed clearly that as the mountain started breathing and the dragon’s head started exercising its breathing, the Berserker Bones in his body also started acting on their own. As blue light shone, the power of the world continuously seeped into his body and fused together with the four Berserker Bones.

Besides the few who could initially borrow the power of the deity statue to condense their aura of Awakening to turn their bones, all the others in the Bone Sacrifice Realm would need to use the power of the world to increase their Berserker Bones during the rest of their cultivation.

The power of the world was invisible. Those in the Bone Sacrifice Realm could not utilize it directly, just absorb it when they exercised their breathing. Once they fused the power of the world into their blood vessels, it would turn into a power that circulated through the entire body. That was the power of Berserker Bones.

Once a certain amount of that power was accumulated, it would gain physical mass and change one of the vertebrae in the spine, gradually transforming it into a Berserker Bone!

Joy appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. Once he sucked in a large breath of the power of the world around him that came once the mountain started exercising its breathing, he walked briskly out of his cave abode. With one leap, he rose in midair and looked down.

Right then, all the plants in the mountain range were swaying. The power of the world from all around surged forward, causing the place to turn into a whirlpool. The whirlpool might have started off small, but as the power of the world surged forth, it grew increasingly bigger.

‘Thank goodness I didn’t open up the entire thing, or else once that dragon’s head starts breathing smoothly, the presence in this place would be much stronger, at least by ten fold.

‘And when that time came, perhaps…’ Su Ming hesitated for a moment and shook his head, dismissing the thought that suddenly appeared in his head.

He thought that idea was a little surreal.

That idea formed while he was looking down from midair. The mountain range’s shape and its breathing made it seem like a dragon’s head breathing. If the mountain was completely opened up, then as the wind continued blowing all year long and charging towards this place, as the mountain continued absorbing the power of the world as it exercised its breathing, then the mountain range might move…

”The mountain is connected to the earth, how could it move? That idea is just too surreal.” Su Ming might be dissing that idea to himself, but he still could not help but start mulling over it.

‘This mountain range is like a dragon’s head. Once I open it up completely, it’ll seem like it’s breathing. Then, if it truly starts moving because of the wind blowing against it, then wouldn’t it be as if the Three Evils pattern had just come to life..? If there is a dragon like this moving on the ground, if I can do that, then perhaps, many years in the future, this mountain range will possess a spirit…’

Su Ming scratched his head and cast a few more glances at the mountain range. He saw that the whirlpool in the mountain range had become much bigger, but he was not surprised, as if he had long since expected this. With one move, he appeared beyond the mountain range and found the spot on the outer layer of the mountain connecting to the cracks he had made from within. He stared at it for a long while, then started hiding it away. Once he was certain that no one would be able to find wrong unless they were looking closely, he returned to midair.

‘I just opened up a small part of the mountain, and the whirlpool appeared because the mountain had started breathing. It’ll disappear completely in a few days. At that time, while the mountain’s appearance will look the same, but what is within would have gone through a tremendous change.

‘Then I can start carving Runes on it. If only Hu Zi was here. He’d definitely be able to create a Rune specially for this place. Right now, I can only arrange the place with the Runes he gave me.

‘Once I disguise them a little, this place will turn into my very first cave abode in the land of the Shamans!’

Satisfaction appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He descended and sat down cross-legged on the mountain. Spirit Plunder was brought out and floated above his head. He wore a mask and was dressed entirely in black. As he meditated, his entire being started giving off a presence that belonged to the Soul Catchers.

After a brief moment of thought, Su Ming touched his storage bag with his right hand. Immediately, red light flashed and the Fire Ape flew out. With the rod in hand, it looked around, and once it did so, surprised delight instantly appeared on its face. It started gesturing and baring its teeth at Su Ming.

Su Ming smiled, and his gaze fell on the mountain range. Gradually, a chilling light appeared in his eyes.

‘This place might not be fully opened up, but if someone dares provoke me, then I’ll draw them here and cast Execution of Three Evils using the pattern of this place. I can also control the might of that Art. In fact, if I run into powerful enemies, I can just fully open the dragon’s head here to activate the full force of the power of the world.

‘When that time comes, this place will be an execution ground!’

In the blink of an eye, three days went by. During those three days, there were several Shamans who were attracted by the whirlpool on the land when they flew past. When they wanted to get closer to investigate it, Su Ming would let out a cold harrumph, and they would discover his presence.

”I am practicing a secret Spell here. All trespassers will be killed without question!”

Even if Su Ming was wearing a mask, his entire body radiated with the presence of a Soul Catcher. His profound eyes also made made goosebumps instantly appear on these people’s skins.

They were just Fledgeling Shamans, and with just one glance, they could tell that Su Ming was a Medial Shaman, and a Medial Soul Catcher to boot, who happened to be the group of people that were incredibly difficult to deal with once they were Medial Shamans. The Shamans could not help but respectfully wrap their fists in their palms in the distance.

The Shamans might all be members of the same race, but the methods they used when they attacked each other were similarly sinister, especially for Soul Catchers. Their reputation as killers in the land of the Shamans rang far and wide. This sort of people who were skilled in turning the living to the dead and vice versa, and also turning the living into living dead puppets, were an existence that instilled fear among all their enemies.

Besides, rumors had it that Soul Catchers were skilled in a Spell called Curse. They would only need a strand of their enemy’s hair or their fingernail, and they would be able to cast that Spell to kill their enemy without being seen.

Because of that, Soul Catchers naturally became a mysterious existence that most people would not dare provoke easily.

”We are members of White Bull Tribe, which is located nearby. We didn’t know that you were training here, senior. That is why we came here so carelessly. Please don’t be angry, we’ll leave immediately.”

The leader of the team of people was a middle-aged man. He seemed to only be a Fledgeling Shaman, and the moment he discovered the presence of a Soul Catcher around Su Ming’s body, he instantly became nervous and quickly bowed to him respectfully.

His tribe was just a small tribe. If it was just a normal Medial Shaman, things might be still decent but if they ran into Medial Spirit Mediums or Medial Soul Catchers, then they definitely had to be respectful.

Once the man finished speaking, he quickly rounded up his fellow tribe members and left the place hastily. Only when they had flown far away and saw that the Soul Catcher was not going to take action against them, they let out a huge sigh of relief.