Su Ming used the virescent sword in his hand and stabbed it into the meadow. Once it sank into the ground, he closed his eyes slightly, and as bell chimes echoed within him, Han Mountain Bell manifested itself outside his body. Once it flew out, the picture of the Nine-Headed Dragon on it gained a vivid edge, and it sounded as if its roars filled the world.
"Nine-Headed Dragon…" Su Ming whispered softly.
"Candle Dragon…" The instant he said these two words, the small Candle Dragon at his collar immediately flew out, and with a leap, crawled into the meadow, disappearing. At the same time, the bell in the sky grew larger, and as it grew endlessly, it replaced the sky above Su Ming before rushing into the thick, dark clouds above and hiding itself away from sight.
This was the sixth gift Su Ming prepared for that disaster!
'And the seventh…' Su Ming's eyes sparkled. He looked at the mark of the crimson dragon on his arm. The crimson dragon had opened its eyes at the moment and was also looking at Su Ming. There was resolution in its gaze.
Without even needing Su Ming to speak, the crimson dragon on his arm manifested itself, then lifted its head and roared before it charged into the sky with its gigantic body. It disappeared swiftly into the clouds and vanished from sight.
But it was still there. Su Ming could tell that with just a single thought from him, the crimson dragon would have its strongest power erupt from its body to destroy the entire world.
This was his seventh gift!
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath. When he lifted his hands, the power of lightning erupted from the Lightning Crystal of Inheritance within him. This power surrounded his body, and as he watched the endless amount of lightning sparks swimming on his skin, he closed his eyes and struck his chest with his right hand.
As lightning crackled all over his body, Su Ming opened his mouth and spat out an item!
This item was black and was a cauldron-shaped object with nine holes in it. This thing had always been in Su Ming's body, and it was the item that was formed when he absorbed the lightning from the world as he Awakened in Han Mountain City!
There had never been much changes within this item, as it resided in his body, up till the moment he absorbed the Lightning Berserker's inheritance. Su Ming had sensed something different within it, as if there thousands upon thousands of threads connecting this item to the Lightning Berserker.
In fact, even if the black stone fragment had played the largest role in him being able to obtain the Lightning Berserker's inheritance, without this cauldron-shaped thing, the stone fragment would not have been able to find a guide to bring out lightning.
The instant Su Ming spat out the nine-holed cauldron-shaped thing that was his Origin Vessel, the lightning around him charged into the item and disappeared without a trace, causing one of the nine holes to be filled to the brim with lightning!
Su Ming narrowed his eyes. With a swing of his arm, the item charged into the clouds in the sky. At the instant it buried itself there, thunder rumbled, and an infinite amount of lightning started swimming in all directions in the sky, then gathered within the nine-holed cauldron!
That was not the end. Su Ming started forming various seals with his hands and had his Nascent Divinity cover his entire body. He was, at that moment, casting the Immortals' Nine Transformations from the Nine Transformations, Ten Transfigurations, One Voice Art!
The first Transformation, the second Transformation, the third Transformation… Every single time Su Ming changed the seal with his hand, he would send that Transformation into the seal. With each Transformation, the lightning in the sky would increase by a countless amount, which resulted in the second hole within the nine-holed cauldron to be filled, and the third hole was also gradually filling up with lightning.
Su Ming's limit arrived at the seventh Transformation due to his level of cultivation. At that moment, four holes within the nine-holed cauldron in the clouds had already been filled with lightning.
This was the eighth gift he prepared for the person who would bring him his disaster!
'One more…'
Su Ming looked at his left hand. Under his gaze, it gradually turned black, and soon, that dark shade filled his entire palm. However, before long, that black shade gradually started fading away, and only… the palm lines on his left hand remained black. Compared to his normal skin color, those black lines were quite a terrifying sight.
"The Curse…"
When Su Ming mumbled under his breath, his gaze fell on his right hand. There was a black glare shining on his right hand at the moment, but it soon disappeared, as if it had hidden itself in his right hand.
"This is the ninth gift… Di Tian, let's hope you're really the one who will be bringing me this disaster… I will wait for you here… with these nine gifts!"
Su Ming closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He started waiting in silence.
He had already laid out the entire board for the battlefield, and would now absolutely not leave this place. If this disaster was truly Di Tian, he would definitely come.
Su Ming waited for three days. During them, he did not move a single inch and kept his eyes closed as he meditated, and by doing so, his condition continued improving, until he reached his strongest state.
He knew that the disaster this time would be incredibly difficult, but he could not back down from this fight, and neither did he have any space to withdraw. He could only fight!
He had to fight!
He had to slaughter his way through, to clear a path for himself to control his own fate. He had to kill until everything changed!
Fight!
Red capillaries gradually appeared beneath Su Ming's shut eyes. A battle spirit and killing intent that surged into the sky rose in his body, and like a storm, it started sweeping through the entire area.
He wanted to fight. He wanted to fight against Di Tian, fight against his fate, fight against his confusion, and fight against his whole life!
When the fifth day arrived and Su Ming's battle spirit reached its peak, a wave of distortions appeared in the sky in the distance, and a person walked out from within.
That person was dressed in an Emperor's robe and wore a crown. With an aloof look on his face, he cast a cold glance at Su Ming sitting on the island beneath him. Naturally, that person was Di Tian!
After waiting for several days, he had noticed that Su Ming was no longer heading toward Eastern Wastelands. After a moment of hesitation, he chose to not wait any longer and come to Su Ming himself. To him, changing Destiny's path would not be too hard… even though he had run into a period lacking control during all his years of observing Su Ming.
But he believed that this period of emptiness, where he did not see him, was not enough for his plans to fall!
Di Tian did not even say a single word when he saw Su Ming. He simply took a step towards the island where he was. At that moment, his aloof appearance and his emotionless expression gave a loud voice to his tyrannical behavior!
Along with the Emperor's robe, the awe-inspiring presence caused Di Tian to look as if he was the sovereign in this world, as if every single piece of land under the sky was his domain, and with an overbearing presence that screamed of him being the only sovereign that could exist in this world, his foot landed. The world roared, and the Dead Sea beneath him started churning and tumbling backwards, as if it could not withstand the pressure of his arrival!
At that moment, the imposing presence of Di Tian was the exact same as the clone's who had fought against Hong Luo all those years ago!
'It's not his real seal…'
At the instant Di Tian took that one step and the world started roaring, Su Ming's eyes flew open. With a single move, his body flew up, and the Undertaker of Evil's Armor covered his body. Once it did so, the Spear appeared in his hand.
All of these things happened in a flash. In the blink of an eye, Su Ming had already equipped the Undertaker of Evil's Armor.
Di Tian completely ignored the armor's appearance. Once he took the first step, he lifted his right hand and swung his arm towards Su Ming through the air. An astonishing wave of fog started churning, and as if it wanted to cover the entire world within, it rushed forward towards Su Ming!
Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. At the instant his body rose into the sky, he took a step forward. When his foot landed, the air roared. This was not a normal step, it was… Su Ming's God of Berserkers' Seven Steps!
The first step!
With it, the layers of clouds above Di Tian's head thinned out, and a huge footprint appeared. With a piercing howl, it charged towards Di Tian.
Once Su Ming took that step, he immediately took another. He did not stop moving his feet and walked another six steps forward. Once he was finished, six footprints that were each bigger than the last appeared and replaced the entire sky above Di Tian's head. With loud rumbles, they sank down and crashed into the vast fog that had appeared when Di Tian swung his arm.
At the instant a shocking roar reverberated through the air, Su Ming took his seventh step, and with it, the biggest footprint abruptly descended, causing the rumbling sounds, which had already been shocking enough, to become much louder!
When Su Ming finished executing the God of Berserkers' Seven Steps, his speed reached an unimaginable extent. When the piercing roars continued shaking the world and space itself was still being torn apart, he had already charged through the air with the Undertaker of Evil's Spear in hand. Like a long arc that shot through space, he appeared before Di Tian and sent his spear straight towards the center of the clone's brows!
This was Su Ming!
He took the initiative to attack, no longer merely resisting like he did all those years ago. This spear symbolized his fight against fate. This spear represented the resolve in his heart. This spear… contained his hate towards Di Tian!
The significance behind his change from being forced to fight back and attacking on his own was great, and the change itself was as huge as the world being overturned!
A loud bang that buried all other sounds spread out swiftly, but Di Tian's gaze was as calm as ever. Not a single hint of change could be seen in his composed expression. In fact, he did not even take half a step backwards. He merely lifted his right hand and tapped the tip of Su Ming's spear.
A bang reverberated in the air, and Su Ming coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered backwards before turning into an arc that fell on the island. He… failed with this strike!
The strength of Di Tian's clone was so great that he only needed one finger to injure Su Ming… but there was a price to it. A thin gash appeared on the pad of Di Tian's finger.
"Looks like you've improved by quite a large margin over the years, considering that you were able to injure my clone… but you still need to walk down your predestined path so that I won't be disappointed."
As Di Tian spoke, he closed in on the island. However, right at the instant Su Ming fell on the ground, a strange, faint smile appeared on the corners of his lips.
There were three reasons behind Su Ming launching his attack. One of them was due to his resolve and the change in his attitude. The other was to test just how much his body could handle. The final reason… was to lure Di Tian to this island!
Now, his adversary was here!
"Di Tian!" Su Ming roared. He lifted his right hand and swiftly pressed it on the seemingly ordinary looking stone monument, the monument that the first God of Berserkers had left behind containing his inheritance that would only last until the third God of Berserkers!
At the instant Su Ming's palm fell, a hum came from the monument, and a presence belonging to the first God of Berserkers manifested within the world, causing Di Tian's expression to change for the very first time as he walked over!
"This is… Lie Shan Xiu's presence!"