From the distance, this tenth moon was like an eye that was opening slowly. This strange sight made all the people who saw it get the false impression that if that eye opened completely, it would cause the sky and earth to shatter!
The World of Nine Yin within the one million lis belonging to the Shamans was now largely different compared to the time Su Ming stepped into the Candle Dragon’s burial ground. The strange forest had become several times bigger, and all the dangerous areas Su Ming had detected in the past had also become much larger.
As for Shaman City, it… no longer existed…
The majestic city that served as a sign that the Shamans occupied that particular area in the World of Nine Yin had now turned into ruins. All the buildings had been destroyed and whatever remained of them was scattered everywhere.
The huge head that was lifted into the sky by a giant stone pillar in the past was also gone. It was difficult to imagine just what sort of change could have happened that caused the Shamans to be unable to defend their city…
There was a gigantic hole in the sky above the ruins of Shaman City. From the distance, that hole looked like a vortex that remained still and unmoving. There were dried up branches above that hole. Those branches had appeared out of nowhere, as if the sky was the spot where they had hidden their roots. As they spread out, they surrounded the entire vortex and wound themselves tightly around it like a seal.
However, the place was not void of life. Some people could be seen flickering through the ruins, even though their presences were difficult to spot. They would enter the ruins quickly, and then swiftly fly out once more.
If anyone took a closer look, they would find that these people were a mere handful of Shamans.
Besides the Candle Dragon’s burial ground, there were two other spots that were considered as sacred grounds to the Shamans within the one million lis around Shaman City. One of them was the birthplace of the Spirit Mediums - the mass grave. Over there, they could sense the presence of death, and if the people possessed a unique aptitude, they could become Spirit Mediums.
The other was the birthplace of Thought Soothsayers - an altar that was built with numerous beast bones. There was a power contained within the altar that would not lose to the Candle Dragon. That power would make all those who invaded its territory be plagued by hallucinations until they died. If they did not die, then once they broke free, they would possess a similar power, and those were the Thought Soothsayers.
As of then, there were some Shamans staying in a valley near that beast bone altar. The total number of Shamans staying there was less than a thousand. All of them had yellowish complexions and they were thin, dressed in ragged clothes. They looked incredibly pathetic. Their gazes were also filled with vigilance. However, when they saw the bizarre change appearing on the tenth moon in the sky, that vigilance turned into panic.
Among these people was a person who sat in a corner of the valley. He was dressed in a black robe and his face was also covered, but it still could not cover the rotten stench coming from his body. Hidden under his robes were black patches of varying sizes decorating his skin.
Those black patches were the source of his decay, and they were also the reason for his torment and his endless suffering.
Almost the moment the other people lifted their heads to look at the tenth moon in the sky in shock, the person in black robes also lifted his head and looked towards the sky. However, right when he saw that a change had appeared on the tenth, his expression drastically changed.
The others might not know about this tenth moon, but he did! He knew that this moon was the Candle Dragon’s Undying and Imperishable World, and if such a change occurred to it, then it meant that someone was about to force his way out of the Undying and Imperishable World!
"Impossible… It can’t be him!" the person in black mumbled.
He was indeed the person who had separated a thread of his divine sense, using the Destiny Talisman, in the past to have Su Ming be sucked into the Undying and Imperishable World, who was Di Tian’s servant and the overseer of Su Ming’s actions in the land of the Berserkers!
He might not have died despite the Curse burdening his body, but due to some accidents, he had lost his chance to leave and was forced to stay in this place with the others who could not leave, living through every single day like cowardly turtles.
Compared to the others’ despair, he never lost hope. He believed that once his master descended to this place, he would come and look for him, then save him.
However, once he saw the change in the tenth month, his heart was filled with disbelief. He had learned of the rumors surrounding the Undying and Imperishable World a long time ago. He knew that this was a place that practically no one could escape, and it was difficult for him to believe all that he was seeing.
There were two other people in the crowd that Su Ming would find incredibly familiar if he saw them. One of them was a middle-aged man with messy hair. His robes were torn and his face was filled with stubbles. He looked incredibly miserable as he sat quietly on a mountain rock while looking at the sky. There was a slight hint of uncertainty on his face.
‘He disappeared into the Candle Dragon’s land that year, and I heard someone say before that this tenth moon symbolizes the Candle Dragon activating the Undying and Imperishable World. Could this change… be connected to him…’ In his silence, nostalgia appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. He was Nan Gong Hen!
The other person was an old man whose face was filled with a bleak air. He lay on the ground with dull and lifeless eyes, and his body was thin as bones. He stared at the tenth moon in the sky blankly, and if Su Ming saw him in that valley, he would be able to somewhat tell that this person was the Latter Shaman, Tie Mu.
There was a one armed young man taking care of him by his side. That young man would occasionally lift his head to look at the tenth moon in the sky, but he would not say a single word.
There were also other living creatures who saw that tenth moon in the sky, and they were men who lived on the vast land of the World of Nine Yin outside the valley. These men were several hundreds of feet tall, and they were men who looked like trees possessing heads and four limbs.
These men looked incredibly similar to the Spirits of Nine Yin. They wore armor and resided in many places within the World of Nine Ying. All of them saw the strange change on the tenth moon in the sky.
There were also illusory shadows of men and women besides the Spirits of Nine Yin existing within the territory that once belonged to the Shamans. These people looked quite transparent and their bodies could not be seen clearly.
Besides these creatures, there was also a race existing in the sky. These were living beings that had a pair of wings growing off their backs even though their bodies were those of humans. However, those wings looked like bats’ wings, and a singular horn could usually be found on these people’s heads.
These three races occupied the territory that once belonged to the Shamans, and even stationed themselves in three locations around the valley where the remaining Shamans lived.
The change within the tenth moon in the sky had also caught a great deal of attention from the three races. Compared to the Shamans, they possessed more knowledge regarding it and what it meant.
"The Candle Dragon activated the Undying and Imperishable World all those years ago, and now it’s showing signs of opening. Could it be that the person who went in back then is coming out?"
Within the territory occupied by the people with bat wings on their backs was a giant oval shaped ball several hundreds upon thousands of feet tall. That ball floated in midair, and around it were many other smaller black ovular shaped balls. There was a ghastly voice echoing in that area at that moment, and it was unknown which ball that voice came from.
In another direction and in another region was a spot where there were plenty of the transparent and illusory people. There were several altars in that region, and they were all very strange. Their forms were caught in between a state of being real and being an illusion. It was difficult for people to discern whether they truly existed.
"A person who can walk out of the dead Candle Dragon’s Undying and Imperishable World definitely has something unique about him… Let’s try taking him into our tribe first…"
In the final direction and also the region that was furthest away from the Candle Dragon’s burial ground was a land filled with a forest that spanned endlessly. This area was the dwelling place for the men whose gigantic bodies were like dried wood and who covered themselves in armor - the Spirits of Nine Yin.
Within that endless forest were huge palaces. If anyone took a closer look, then they would be able to see clearly that these palaces were almost the exact same as the palace in Shaman City, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say… that they were the same!
The gigantic stone statues stood right beside these palaces, and they remained still and unmoving. One of the stone statues was clearly the Spirit of Nine Yin Su Ming had rented in the past!
His fossilized body remained unmoving, but his head was lifted up towards the sky to look at the tenth moon, and there was a slightly complicated look in his eyes.
Further down ahead was an old man sitting cross-legged within the hall. He did not lift his head to look at the sky, but only let out a soft sigh.
"Who would have thought that he would truly be able to walk out from that place..?"
At the moment almost all eyes in the World of Nine Yin looked towards the tenth moon, the statue of the dragon snake rose into the sky within the Candle Dragon’s Undying and Imperishable World. Its body had become much smaller. Su Ming, whose hair was now half purple and half white, stood facing the giant Candle Dragon formed by the endless white fog in the world, and he was as aloof as ever.
He lifted his left hand from pressing downwards to the ground, and the instant the Candle Dragon closed in on him with a furious howl, he drew half a circle with his left index finger before him.
"This is the past…"
He lowered his left hand and completed the other half of the circle by drawing the remaining arc of the circle with his right index finger.
"This is the future…"
Once he drew the completed circle, Su Ming pressed his left hand on the back of his right hand, then pushed the circle before him swiftly.
"This is the present… and it is also… Destiny!"
With that one push, a piercing light erupted forth from the circle and it grew immeasurably large before it charged straight towards the Candle Dragon, crashing into its huge body in an instant. A loud rumble that shook the sky and earth resounded, and as the sound reverberated in the air, a powerful impact swept towards Su Ming, but the moment it closed in on him, Su Ming opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath.
The white fog contained within the impact was sucked into Su Ming’s mouth at an astonishing pace, and at the same time, he moved his right hand upwards and his left hand downwards once more, then pushed at the sky and earth with all his strength!
A large area of the sky fell apart and the ground started trembling viciously. Then, as if it was seized by a pair of invisible hands, the crack between the sky and earth was abruptly ripped apart!
The instant the crack was ripped apart, a violent rumble reverberated in the air, and a gigantic crack that connected the sky and earth appeared! Su Ming charged upwards, and in the blink of an eye… disappeared inside it.
"Undying and Imperishable… If you devour those souls, you will not die, and if you don’t devour them, you will not perish. However, devouring and not devouring are like two polar opposites, and this cannot be considered a fusion… The true fusion is when you manage to not devour while you eat, and while you eat, you don’t devour…"
Su Ming mumbled under his breath the instant he stepped into the crack, and understanding appeared in his eyes.
"This is life."