Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The flames burned fiercely and did not emit a single bit of light. The black lights were deep and profound.
They revolved around Ou Yangming 33 meters away and kept spitting out flames. From afar, the young fellow looked like a constantly moving fire vortex.
Zang Jian seemed to have seen the most incredible thing. The sword case on his back fell to the ground. In the case was the Shen Tu Sword, which was the sword that guarded the peak of the Ultimate Sword Peak. This would never happen under normal circumstances.
This was because the sword was a sword cultivator’s belief. The sword was like their soul. The sword could be broken, but it could never be stained with dust. This was also the case for He Jian. When had the sword case on his back ever touched the ground?
It was because sword cultivators constantly nurtured this unyielding will in their hearts that their offensive power was unparalleled in the world. It was also because of this that nothing could stop them.
Due to this reason, He Jian would one day fight against An Jingyun. He originally had 6 swords in his case but after he failed to challenge An Jingyun, 3 of them were taken away. To sword cultivators, this humiliation was unimaginable. This battle would be unavoidable and would have nothing to do with anything else. It was all for his perseverance and conviction.
Zang Jian’s case fell to the ground after he saw this. One could imagine how shocked he was.
He was stunned for 2 breaths before he came back to his senses. He felt bitter in his heart as he thought that he had already overestimated Ou Yangming.
At this moment, he realized that he was wrong—very wrong. Ou Yangming was stronger—much stronger than he had expected. After forcefully exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he thought to himself, ‘Such a person should be incredibly famous in Zhangzhou. Why have I never heard of him?’
All of a sudden, Ou Yangming stopped. His body was surrounded by flames, and his expression could not be seen clearly. Nonetheless, his voice was calm. “Here, this is useless to me, so I’ll give it to you.”
As he spoke, he gently waved his sleeve. The Barren Badge was pulled by an invisible force and turned into a ray of light that shot toward Zang Jian.
Zang Jian had a complicated expression on his face. He grabbed at the air with its palm. Afterward, the Barren Badge was in his palm.
Ou Yangming chuckled and did not say anything. He activated the Heavenly Phoenix Fire in his body to the extreme and shouted in a domineering manner, “Condense!”
As soon as he said that, the black flames condensed and formed a 3-meters-wide circular path that extended toward the depths. Furthermore, the flames blocked all the resistance that was coming from the compression. The young fellow took a step forward. Every step he took was over 33 meters as if he was walking on flat ground. This place of death that caused the faces of top-grade Spiritualists to change was treated by him as his back garden, where he could come and go as he pleased.
He Jian looked at his back and thought to himself, ‘As expected of a God-favored one. How could such a person be unvalued?’
Zang Jian’s expression was complicated, and the determination in his eyes grew stronger. He thought to himself, ‘I’m also a Daoist child so how can I be weaker than him?’ The frustration in his heart seemed to have been washed away by these words.
As he looked at the disappearing figure, his eyes surged with fighting spirit.
The journey was lonely. Ou Yangming did not know how long he had walked, but the last bit of light in the flames had disappeared. It was pitch black. Only the whistling sounds of the winds could be heard. The winds were not very strong, but they still swept up some of the sand and gravel on the ground and hit his clothes. Even a Venerable One with the Atavism Bloodline could not have reached this place.
At this moment, a white light spot appeared in Ou Yangming’s senses.
He lowered his waist and increased his speed. A cyclone was set up around him, and he rushed forward.
As Ou Yangming got closer, his eyes felt a piercing pain. He closed his eyes subconsciously. When he opened his eyes again, he had passed through the light spot and landed below a seven-starred altar. The force that wanted to push him out had disappeared. The young fellow looked over.
This altar was made of ordinary stones. There was blood on it, and its aura was ancient. It seemed to have existed for tens of thousands of years. On the altar, many heads were piled up in a strange pattern. At the same time, they looked at the sky.
In the middle of the altar, there was a Twilight Drum. It was only 10 to 13 meters tall. It was mottled with color and was covered in blood. Ou Yangming did not know why but when he saw this, a desolate feeling of a hero in his twilight years arose in his heart.
At the bottom of the altar stood a stone tablet. The words on it were densely packed, and they were all people’s names. The words were round and smooth, and they were written in one go. Nevertheless, after a few more glances, a demonic feeling rose in his heart as if it could suck his mind into it. Greed, anger, obsession, love, hate, separation, fame, and desire—the feelings appeared.
Ou Yangming took a glance and looked away. He pondered for a moment and slowly walked over. His fingers swept past the stone tablet. The handwriting on the stone tablet seemed to have been wiped clean by an invisible hand. All kinds of indescribable coldness invaded his heart. Severed limbs, blood, and heads appeared in front of him one by one. Then, the names on the stone tablet appeared again. They turned into a dark ray of light that burned and headed straight for him.
He was shocked and took half a step back, but his expression did not change. He flicked his finger and blew out a gust of wind, shattering the dark ray of light.
“How odd!” Ou Yangming turned, and a faint appeared on his face.
At this moment, he realized that there was a deep and unreachable small hole below the stone tablet where yellow sand was about to cover.
It was like a burning flame. There were a few small words written on it, and it sounded like the Twilight Drum. Everything was clear.
Ou Yangming looked at the Seven Stars Altar and thought to himself, ‘What’s going on? This doesn’t make sense. There’s only such a shabby altar at the core of this Barren Desert? Where are the fortunes, the spiritual items, and the secrets of the Big Ruins? Where are the bones of dragons and phoenixes? Were the burning flames and the majestic resistance just to protect this altar?’
He immediately thought of the small words in the small hole below the stone tablet, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Ou Yangming wondered, ‘If I hit the Twilight Drum, will everything be known? I want to see just what kind of secret is hidden here.’
He lightly lifted his foot and stepped on the bluestone steps, walking up the altar and leaving a series of footprints.
Ou Yangming did not pay attention to them. After all, his footprints on the stone steps and the altar seemed to have been wiped away by a pair of black hands.
The Twilight Drum had experienced many vicissitudes of life. The surface of it was yellow and covered with a layer of dust. The edges of the drum were even rolled up.
Ou Yangming exhaled and said softly, “I wonder what’s so mysterious about this Twilight Drum? I’d like to see it…”
Without further hesitation, Ou Yangming’s muscles bulged all over his body. The spiritual Qi in his dantian kept surging and converged on his right fist. The fist seemed to be wrapped in a dark light, like a mountain that crashed onto the Twilight Drum. The surface of the drum vibrated slightly, and the force that was blasted out fused with an invisible ripple, turning into a counterforce that acted on the young fellow’s body, causing him to pause slightly.
“Eh… This is really weird!” Ou Yangming pondered for a moment, then he mobilized the spiritual Qi in his dantian again but increased the force before he blasted it out.
“Buzz…” The drum’s surface moved up and down, shaking back and forth. This invisible wave turned into substance and rebounded. Ou Yangming felt as if he was hit by a 333-meters-long shock wave, forcing him to take a big step back. At the same time, an ancient voice rumbled in his mind.
“You can’t bear this karma. You can’t hit the Twilight Drum, nor can you sound it! Your cultivation’s too low so quickly leave!”
The voice came from somewhere and exploded like thunder in Ou Yangming’s mind.
Ou Yangming banished this thought, took out the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer, and struck forward again.
At this moment, wisps of red mist floated on the altar like wisps of silk.
The red mists surged rapidly as if they were condensed by an invisible force, and a voice was heard. “Retreat! Don’t beat It! You can’t sound it, you can’t sound it. Retreat, quickly retreat…” The sound waves gushed and became louder, eventually becoming the only sound in Ou Yangming’s ears and occupied his mind.
However, Ou Yangming’s eyes turned slightly red. The Heavenly Phoenix Fire burned fiercely, and the blood in his veins boiled.
He did not care about the consumption of spiritual Qi at all and once again swung his fist at the Twilight Drum. The huge rebound force struck again, directly causing blood to fill his throat. Despite that, he did not care about it and was like a mad demon. He was going to sound the drum no matter what!
Once, twice, thrice..
Ou Yangming’s spiritual Qi consumption was getting faster, but he was laughing wildly.
At this time, if someone was by his side, they would be surprised to find that Ou Yangming looked crazy. He kept striking out in the air, hitting the empty space. He was getting farther away from the Twilight Drum, and countless red shadows surrounded him. They drew him toward the strange pattern formed by the head.
“I can’t sound it. Why can’t I sound it?” He muttered to himself with a bitter expression. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his head, and the Heavenly Phoenix Fire instantly lit up.
Ou Yangming’s body stopped, and the corner of his mouth curled up. He narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, ‘What’s going on? Why did the Heavenly Phoenix Fire suddenly warn me?’ Every time this happened, the young fellow would encounter a huge crisis. It was the same when he killed Dong Ruyu in front of the Venerable One, and it was the same when he was chased by Li Xin. Having said that, he was only trying to sound the Twilight Drum. How could he be in danger? His eyebrows were knitted together, and his eyes were filled with confusion.
He looked around. The sky, the Twilight Drum, the head, the stone tablet…
A faint feeling of inspiration flashed across his mind, but it disappeared in an instant.
‘What’s wrong? What exactly is wrong?’ He kept asking himself. The scene in front of him seemed so real that it was difficult for him to shake it off.
Ou Yangming’s thoughts sank. He guarded his spiritual altar with his heart and entered the connection between Heaven and man.
In his mind, his memories began to flip like pages of a book. No matter how big or small, every detail was meticulously checked by him. From the moment he met Ji Haoran, he began to analyze and ponder in his spiritual world bit by bit.
1 breath, 2 breaths, 3 breaths…
At this time, the red mists on the Seven Stars Altar surged rapidly. They condensed and turned into a black head. A voice that was neither demonic nor devilish was heard. “Quickly retreat! The Twilight Drum isn’t something that you can sound! Quickly retreat… Quickly retreat!” This voice sounded urgent like a crazy demon.
“Get lost! Quickly get lost!” Ou Yangming’s eyes flashed with viciousness. The black runes on the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer suddenly jumped. He clenched his fingers and channeled his spiritual power to the handle of the spear, blasting it forward.
