"You are?" Ji Hao activated the golden bridge once again and squeezed out through the iceberg with difficulty. A while later, he stood in front of the man with a tall hat, and bowed politely.
Ji Hao had seen these people with tall hats around Emperor Shun for quite a few times. During the first great war between he humankind and the non-humankind that Ji Hao fought, he saw such a man with a tall hat by Emperor Shun’s side.
Last time in the Town Hall, twelve men with tall hats showed up together, instantly suppressing a group of leaders of the alliance of human clans and forcing them to join hands and help Emperor Shun to control the flood with all their resources. Ji Hao clearly understood that these men with tall hats were probably the most powerful ones among the entire humankind, could even be those famous legendary heroes in the history of the humankind. Without a doubt, Ji Hao should have more respect for these mysterious people.
"I am Suiren." Before the man’s face, the dense fiery mist suddenly faded, showing his ordinary-looking but especially amiable face. Suiren didn’t have a stunning look, but he did have a pair of deep, bright eyes. If one looked into his eyes, one would see a vivid spark, just like the starlights in the sky.
Ji Hao’s scalp was numbed. A short distance away, Feng Xing, Yi Di and the other few warrior commanders had already involuntarily kneeled on the ice surface.
Suiren was an ancient human emperor. When human beings were still ignorant, living like wild animals in the forest, Suiren lit the fire for the humankind. From then on, human beings started departing from the most primitive lifestyle, learning the differences between human beings and wild beasts, standing up in Pan Gu world with the name of ‘humankind’.
"Emperor Suiren? Didn’t you…" Countless legends about Emperor Suiren crossed Ji Ho’s mind, including where he died, and where he was buried in. Till present, in every new year festival, groups of Maguspreists would pay respects to Emperor Suiren at his tomb. Before his gravestone, incense sticks had been burning all year round.
"I am only a clone of him. The real Suiren has left Pan Gu world long ago." Suiren nodded to Ji Hao seriously, then the fiery mist emerged again, covering his face as he continued, "Enough of the small talk. Let’s melt this iceberg and get these young warriors out first. After that, I have a mission for you."
Ji Hao took a few steps back, looking at Suiren curiously.
Ji Hao had all kinds of supreme magic treasures, including the divine seal of the East Emperor Taiyi. He also had the power of the great Dao of sun, and he had been speedily absorbing everything that Taiyi had learned about the great Dao of sun. Despite all this, he failed to melt even a little bit of this iceberg. Ji Hao truly wanted to know how Suiren would save them from this troubled situation.
"That old ice worm, he has made progress!" Suiren lowered his head and stared at the iceberg for a while, then sighed and said, "Back then, when he just occupied the north ice seal, the group of evil creatures under his command liked eating human beings. A few of my friends and I started a fight against him, forcing him to kill every last one of those evil creatures with his own hands."
"The old ice worm is sensitive about his reputation. After we injured him, he has been hiding in the ice sea for a very long period, never coming out again." said Suiren blandly, "Therefore, kids like you don’t know much about him! This iceberg he created, it’s not so hard to deal with, as long as you can grasp the ‘true intent’ of it."
The ‘true intent’? Ji Hao knitted his eyebrows. Suiren’s words seemed to contain too many meanings.
"I’ve seen you release the essence sun fire and the Gold Crow flame, but your fires are ‘dead’. You have the powers of fire, yet you don’t have the ‘heart’ of fire. Therefore, you can’t lift the powers of your fires to the maximum stage." Suiren raised a finger and continued in a deep voice, "My fire is ordinary. It’s not a powerful spirit fire, nether is a pre-world divine fire. Instead, its the most ordinary fire in the world that I created back then by drilling a piece of wood."
A small flame lit up on Suiren’s finger. The faint orange fire was gentle and weak, shaking in the strong wind. As Suiren said, this was the most ordinary fire in the world. Housewives living in countrysides would cook meals with this type of fire. This fire could emblazon firewood and dry grasses, but couldn’t be used for smelting ores, not to mention burning the world and breaking the space. Ji Hao could easily release a stream of essence sun fire by simply raising his arm, and that stream would be tens of thousands of times more powerful than Suiren’s fire.
This small flame on Suiren’s finger was truly not so harmful, but what about Ji Hao’s essence sun fire? It could even vaporize metals instantly!
However, once Ji Hao saw this small flame, he sensed an indescribable warmth instantly fill up his entire body. The small weak flame warmed up his soul and every cell of his body, and made him feel energetic.
The small flame reminded Ji Hao of his childhood. When he was little, sometimes in the morning, he would open his eyes and see Qing Fu kneeling by the bonfire, gently grilling beast meat and sweet potatoes. The bonfire was not dazzling at all, but along with the aroma of grilling foods, Ji Hao could always sense a thriving life-force from it.
All of a sudden, Ji Hao got the meaning of the so-called ‘true intent’. It was just like the spirit of a weapon or a tool, just like the soul of a human being. Without a spirit, a weapon or a tool could only be lifeless, and without a soul, a human being would become a walking dead. Without the ‘true intent’, no matter how great a power was, it couldn’t be released entirely.
"The ‘true intent’ of the old ice worm’s cold power was his withered, cold, isolated heart, and the ‘true intent’ of my fire is the endless hope, the inexhaustible life-force." Suiren flicked his finger and sent the flame to the iceberg. The flame drifted down and drilled into the iceberg along with a sizzling noise, diving down towards the city.
Even with the golden bridge, Ji Hao still felt it extremely difficult when penetrating the iceberg. But this weak and tiny flame of Suiren cut the iceberg broken, as easily as cutting a piece of tofu with a sharp knife.
Countless gray-white beams dazzled over from all directions towards the flame. The flame got smaller and smaller, but much brighter than before. At last, the flame reached to the deepest area of the iceberg and slightly touched a certain spot.
Puff! A thin stream of cold power and the small flame devoured each other. Next, the enormous iceberg quaked intensely. Afterward, clouds of steam puffed up from the iceberg, while the iceberg disappeared without a trace.
"Pure strength is not enough." Suiren looked at Ji Hao and said in a gentle yet serious tone, "You are almost as strong as me, but why do you need the strength? Marquis Yao, you have the strength, but you don’t have the heart. You still lack something."
In Ji Hao’s spirit space, the mysterious man complained, "Strength is strength…What do I need a heart for?" clicking his tongue, he continued, "But, this sounds reasonable though…Back then, I…" He snorted and carried on, "I am getting criticized by a little kid, how shameful is this!"
Sighing slightly, Suiren said in a deeper voice, "However, personality, cultivation, experiences, in every way, you’re definitely the best among your generation. We have a mission, do you dare to take it? We’ve been considering over and over again, and at the moment, you’re the most suited person for it."
Without asking any question, Ji Hao said ‘Yes’.