Immortals and Demons Forever

Chapter 9: Awakening from a Long Dream

Su Mu felt as though he had just woken from a long and bizarre dream. In the midst of a wild and desolate wilderness, he stood atop a high, circular platform. Giant spirits raced across the ground, while the legendary Kunpeng spread its wings in the sky. In some parts of the wild, barren wilderness were natural molten pits, spewing flames. Suddenly, the flames churned violently, and a massive fire spirit—five or six meters tall—emerged from the pit. It moved as swiftly as a galloping horse, leaving a trail of flames in its wake. A dragon’s roar rang out from the north as a black demon dragon burst through the clouds; with a single flap of its wings, it unleashed a gale powerful enough to knock the giant demons racing across the ground to the earth. Several roars also rang out from the west, and creatures—whose names he couldn’t even begin to fathom—appeared both in the sky and on the ground. Su Mu’s heart pounded so hard he nearly collapsed to the ground, for these ferocious beasts were closing in on him from all directions! Am I going to die here? But where exactly is this place? As the ferocious creatures closed in on him, Su Mu could only watch helplessly as he was about to be torn to pieces—where could he possibly escape to? There was nowhere to run! He tried hard to recall his past, but found his memories had become a blur—he couldn’t remember a thing, as if he’d been transported out of nowhere into this bizarre and surreal world. The dragons, Kunpengs, and other creatures soared in and immediately dove downward, while the galloping Giant Spirit had already reached the base of the high platform; even standing still, its massive frame was as tall as the platform itself. Su Mu could clearly see the thick, long fur covering its body, and he could just as clearly smell the foul stench emanating from its mouth. “W-what do you… want to do?” The giant spirit threw back its head and let out a long roar, then suddenly knelt to the ground; the mere act of bending its knees was enough to make the ground tremble. Giant dragons, Kunpengs, and other creatures came from all directions; regardless of their kind, they all knelt at the foot of the high platform. In the distance, countless more creatures were rushing toward them, as if paying homage. Su Mu was completely stunned. Why were all these bizarre, terrifying monsters kneeling here? Standing at the edge of the platform, he looked down and realized with a start that this relatively small platform was actually suspended in midair! It was at least ten meters above the ground. How on earth had he managed to climb up this high? Countless creatures were kneeling densely packed all around the base—it was practically a grand gathering of demons and monsters. It suddenly dawned on Su Mu: Could it be that they were kneeling before me? The demons and spirits kneeling all around him began to shout in unison, their voices reverberating throughout heaven and earth. Su Mu couldn’t withstand such a deafening roar and was immediately knocked unconscious by the shockwave. He felt an excruciating headache, as if his head were about to explode at any moment, and the pain jolted him awake. When he opened his eyes, Su Mu first saw light—filtered through the trees, it wasn’t blinding—and his consciousness snapped back into focus. He sat up with a start and looked around; this was indeed the bottom of the deep pit he had slid down to escape the black mist. It had all been a dream. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he looked around frantically—the shattered skull was gone! Where had it gone? Something extraordinary must have happened to him! As soon as Su Mu realized this, he hurriedly checked his body. What he saw gave him quite a shock! Ever since childhood, he had suffered from weak vital energy and blood. Over the past two years at the sect, his constitution had improved slightly through physical cultivation, but the problem of weak vital energy and blood hadn’t seen any significant improvement. But now the situation was completely different—not only was there not the slightest trace of weakness in his qi and blood, but on the contrary, they were extremely vigorous! Could it be that the toxic stagnation within his body had been eliminated?! Su Mu cried out in excitement, his whole body trembling. The nightmare that had plagued him since childhood had actually vanished! His father had been unable to deal with it for over a decade, and even Elder Qingsong’s use of the sect’s secret elixirs had failed—yet it had been eliminated so suddenly. It was simply unbelievable! Now, let’s see if the crucial fifth Source Vein has opened. This was the threshold determining whether he could become a Source Practitioner—all the efforts he’d made during his two years at the sect had been for this very purpose. Six of the eight meridians were already open! This check turned out to be more than he’d expected—he had now leaped directly from the Blood Cultivation stage to the Post-Heaven realm. His Marrow Purification was complete; the Awakening of the Mind had granted him the ability to perceive, opening a gateway in his spirit that made it more agile and controllable, thereby forming a Perception Domain. I already have the ability to perceive?! Su Mu was so overwhelmed with excitement that he nearly fainted. It took him quite a while to calm down and carefully retrace the details of everything that had happened. What had brought about this earth-shattering transformation in his body was, of course, that shattered skull he’d accidentally discovered at the bottom of the pit. He recalled that strange dream, in which a giant troll had asked him if he had any unfulfilled wishes and had bestowed upon him a single drop of essence blood. Now that his qi and blood were so vigorous, it was almost certainly due to that single drop of essence blood! Unfortunately, the shattered skull was gone. It was truly strange—even if it had shattered into pieces, he should have been able to find it. Su Mu had endured a tragic childhood; whether he had been saved by an enlightened master or by some demon, spirit, or monster, he harbored boundless gratitude in his heart. His entire family had been destroyed by a vicious woman. In Su Mu’s view, humans were actually more evil than the demons and giant spirits described in ancient texts. Those otherworldly beings merely devour and kill—some can be guarded against—but how can one guard against the evil within the human heart? His father’s bedmate—who had stayed by his side for so many years solely for an evil purpose—her scheming was truly appalling! Those who survive great calamities are destined for future blessings. Having been granted this opportunity, how could I, Su Mu, fail to make the most of it? To whom would I be doing right if I didn’t? I would have lived this life in vain! Now that the threat of dying from poison had been lifted, Su Mu felt as if he had been reborn—experiencing a sense of exhilaration and freedom he had never known before. The heavens and earth seemed to stretch out endlessly before him, and there was only one thought in his mind: to become stronger! He pulled a booklet from his robe. It was the only cultivation manual he’d obtained during the year he spent as an inner-sect disciple under Elder Qingsong—a very basic treatise on physical cultivation. It covered all the fundamental cultivation methods, from the Innate to the Acquired stages. Although the realm of perception had already formed in his mind, he still didn’t know how to control it—so he needed to prioritize learning that. Following the methods in the book, he began to proceed step by step. Closing his eyes and sitting in meditation, he realized that to project his perception, he first needed to form perception threads. These threads would grow in accordance with the strength of his spiritual energy, allowing him to scan a single plane or detect his surroundings in all directions. The first step is to condense the threads of perception; once they are woven into a net, one can begin to scan the surrounding area. Mobilizing perception is a truly wondrous experience, akin to an out-of-body experience; perception is hailed as the “mind’s eye” of Source-Wielders. The scenes detected by perception are reflected back into the perception domain within the mind, forming images—though these are not as concrete or vivid as what the physical eyes see. Larger objects tend to be clearer, while smaller ones are relatively blurry. What makes perception superior to human eyes is its penetrating nature. For example, if there is something behind a boulder that cannot be seen with the naked eye, a single scan with perception will reveal it. This includes what lies beneath one’s feet in the soil—perception can detect it, though the range of detection is relatively limited. For a powerful practitioner, detecting objects more than ten meters underground is no problem. Furthermore, perception can examine very minute details and has a magnifying function. Before becoming a true Source Master, possessing perception can take one’s abilities to a whole new level. For instance, among Body Tempering practitioners, if someone were to launch a sneak attack from behind, one with perception would immediately detect it and could even launch a targeted counterattack.