Pursuit of the Truth Chapter 387
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Chapter 387
This Yue Feng was naturally He Feng, who had hidden away when Su Ming left the battlefield outside Sky Mist City . This person had swallowed a Berserker and turned into him, and his days in Sky Mist City had been rather fruitful over these days . His ambitions had also become increasingly savage .
In fact, he had even made the decision that once his power had grown stronger, he would devour Su Ming and turn into him to travel through the land . The reason for his ambitions was because he had obtained a sliver of memory regarding a particular inheritance when he was fusing with the Wings of the Moon . He did not tell Su Ming about this and had been training in secret .
These days, besides gaining battle achievements in the battlefield, he had used up all his other time to seal away the Wings of the Moon in his body . It caused Su Ming to be unable to use these creatures anymore because He Feng had turned them into one with him .
He was certain that he had sealed up most of them through the legacy he had gained in his memories, and his confidence had grown even more . However, he would never have expected that such a large amount of his life force would start draining away so suddenly in the battlefield . The loss of his life force shocked He Feng and also horrified him .
He did not even need to think about it too deeply and could instantly guess that this was Su Ming casting his Art!
‘Damn it! I’ve already sealed up the Wings of the Moon in me, so how did Su Ming manage to cast his Art?!’
With a pale face, He Feng stumbled and staggered a few steps back on the battlefield . His companions went to him and protected him with surprise on their faces . At the same time, they also asked about his condition .
"It’s nothing . I injured my body yesterday night when I was training . I originally decided to heal myself today, but when I remembered that we have to fight, I forced down the injuries, and what happened just now was my injuries acting up…
"Thank you for your concern . I hope you will all help protect me for a moment, just until I force down my injuries once again!" He Feng said in a low voice and wrapped his fist in his palm to bow towards the crowd . After the people around him nodded their heads, he sat down without a hint of hesitation and tapped a few spots on his body with both his hands .
Yet at that very moment, He Feng’s expression changed drastically once again . His face started withering away in that strange manner once more, and sharp pain traveled through his entire body and soul, causing He Feng to be unable to help himself but let out a cry of pain . His cheeks sank and his body started drying up rapidly . In the blink of an eye, he looked as if he had turned into a dried up corpse .
That strange change made all the Berserkers around him terrified .
Horror appeared in He Feng’s eyes . He could clearly feel his life force and essence draining away from his body, forcefully absorbed by some power from above, but when he lifted his head to look up, he saw that the sky above him was calm .
In fact, the draining of his blood, his essence, and his life force, had nothing to do with the Wings of the Moon . It was absolutely useless whether he had chosen to seal them or not .
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‘It must be Su Ming . He… What is he… Just how did he do it?!’
Terror filled He Feng’s heart . He had come to a sudden realization that even if Su Ming had left him, and even if he had escaped from his eyes… If Su Ming wanted to punish him, he could do so from wherever he was, and it horrified him .
However, what He Feng did not expect was that Su Ming was not even casting an Art on him . In fact, he could not even be considered to have cast an Art .
At that moment, Su Ming’s eyes were shining brightly as he stared at the vortex in the sky above him . As it turned each time, Su Ming’s expression would occasionally be filled with astonishment, then with delight, but it would also turn into confusion soon, and eventually, he became subject to ever changing moods .
Madam Ji was only skin and bones, her appearance ugly . She stared at Su Ming not too far in the distance with scorn and malice in her eyes . She had naturally seen his actions, but she did not believe that he would be able to find any clues about her Curse .
Yet even so, Madam Ji had also become doubtful once she saw how long Su Ming persevered under her Curse . While he had become thin in her eyes, he still had a long way to go before he became a dried up corpse .
It was as if ever since he performed the burning of blood and the moon in the sky shone with that strangely alluring red, the great power of the Curse had shifted from him . It was as if there was some other, seriously unfortunate, person who was suffering in his stead .
Su Ming had not even thought about letting He Feng take his place . He had originally cast the burning of blood with the intention of slowing the draining of his life force and blood . However, he did not expect that once he cast that Art, he would sense a power belonging to a Fire Berserker in the direction of the land of the Berserkers .
The instant he sensed that power, the force of the Curse gathered on Su Ming’s body was mysteriously shifted away, falling onto He Feng through Su Ming, as if he was a medium .
‘I am the Lord of the Fire Berserkers, that is why when I cast the burning of blood, the strange power of the Curse will be sent to my people to bear . Once they are unable to withstand it any longer, only then will I continue suffering through it .
‘Now, the only Fire Berserker besides me in this world… is the Fire Berserker I created, He Feng!’ A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he gained more understanding towards the power of the Curse .
He looked at the vortex in the sky . His eyes sparkled, and he felt as if he had gained a vague sort of epiphany . However, this epiphany was insignificant for him to master Curse .
‘Curse… what if curses fall on those that come from the same source! He Feng is the Fire Berserker I created, that is why he can be said to be from the same source as me . Which is why he is within the area of effect of the Curse… But besides affecting those related through one source, does the Curse also affect those related by blood . . ?’ Uncertainty appeared in Su Ming’s eyes .
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He remembered that Wu Duo did not mention the power of cursing those who came from the same source when he talked about the mysterious Curse in the land of the Shamans . He mentioned instead that it seemed to affect those related by blood, and had even said that there was once a Shaman who was cursed by a powerful Soul Catcher, and all those related to him by blood in his tribe, even if barely, died .
Eventually, as most of the people in the tribe were connected by blood, more than half of the people died .
‘If what Wu Duo said is true and Curse will really affect those connected by blood, then the power of that Spell shouldn’t be that great, or else, should there be powerful Shamans in the Shaman Tribe, they could just Curse the entire Berserker Tribe… and let them all die, or they could also let the Berserkers be forever unable to break through a certain Realm… Huh?!’
Su Ming widened his eyes . This was some of the assumptions he had made after he saw the power of the Curse . However, the answers he had obtained through these assumptions stunned him .
‘Ever since the third God of Berserkers died, all my tribesmen have only been able to reach the Berserker Soul Realm and it was difficult for them to break through that state… They said that only when the fourth God of Berserkers appears would the entire Berserker Tribe be able to continue forth past the Berserker Soul Realm… This is… Could this be… Perhaps I’m thinking too much . ’
Su Ming’s breathing quickened, and he only managed to calm it down after a long moment had passed .
Right when Su Ming was stunned by his own thoughts and obtained that epiphany, He Feng’s shrill screams of pain echoed through the battlefield outside Sky Mist City . His body had already withered away until he no longer looked like a human, and a large amount of decaying spots also appeared on his body . They let out a rotten stench, causing shock to appear on the faces of the people around him .
He Feng could clearly feel his blood and essence scattering away rapidly, and his life force was also draining away swiftly from his body . His mind had become muddled, and the feeling of death loomed over his heart and soul once again, turning into a strong sense of fear .
"Master… I was wrong! I really did wrong this time!" He Feng’s screams were fixed with pleads for mercy . Once his companions heard those words, especially of him calling out to his Master, they were all momentarily stunned .
Right then, He Feng suddenly shook violently and turned into a puddle of blood . Even his blood had also melted away, but since he had obtained that body by devouring it, even if it had disappeared, He Feng’s soul was still around and was floating as a ball of black shadow .
With a flash, that black shadow appeared beside a Berserker, then opened its mouth wide to swallow the young man . Before anyone could react to it, the young man let out a pained scream and his entire body was swallowed up by that black shadow .
"Big brother Yue Feng, you…"
"He’s not Yue Feng! He’s the Shaman who killed Yue Feng! Kill him!"
All the Berserkers gathered around swiftly attacked, but when their divine abilities closed in on the young man enveloped by He Feng, the black shadow disappeared and the young man’s face was revealed . It was a face that had withered away…
In the land of the Shamans, the vortex in the sky beyond Su Ming’s cave abode in the mountain range had started dissipating, as if it was very difficult for it to maintain its form . Madam Ji was so stunned that her mouth was hanging open in shock . With a blank look, she stared at Su Ming, who had only become slightly thinner, almost unable to believe her own eyes .
She knew well of the strength of the Curse . Even a Latter Shaman who fell under it accidentally would lose a large amount of their life force if he or she did not end up dead . However, Su Ming was practically unharmed right before her eyes . The drainage of his life force could also be considered insignificant .
This strange sight made Madam Ji suck in a sharp breath . Her face instantly turned pale, but she did not retreat . Instead, madness appeared in her eyes . She knew that the Curse would exist for the span of ten more breaths, and after those ten breaths, it would disappear . Then, this Su Ming would be able to get out of that restricted area of ten feet .
"I don’t believe that I can’t kill you today! Once I kill you, I’ll turn you into a puppet, and you will turn into my defender along with Ji Yun Hai . With your divine abilities and your strange skills, you must also be quite well known in the Shaman Tribe . But today, you must die!"
The killing intent in Madam Ji’s eyes became stronger . She took a few steps backwards and spread her arms wide open before sucking in a deep breath .
With that one breath, a huge gust of wind charged towards Madam Ji, and when it entered her mouth, a Tattoo suddenly appeared on her ugly face!
That Tattoo was a hideous looking head, and the size of the head was definitely not of an adult’s… but an infant’s!
The span of ten breaths slowly trickled by . Su Ming eventually stopped examining that Curse . The previous research had allowed a slight epiphany, but if he wanted to gain the true Curse, he would need to figure out a way to get it from Madam Ji .
A stern look appeared on his face . This Madam Ji might not be a Latter Shaman, but she was one of the extremely powerful Medial Shamans Su Ming had ever encountered before . Her methods were also numerous and varied .
Yet the more that was the case, the more Su Ming dispelled the thought of immediately using the power of the God of Berserkers and all his other killing moves .
He did not have a lot of experience in fighting against Shamans . Large scale battles could not be counted in that number . This sort of battle where two people tried to kill each other with Arts and Spells was something Su Ming lacked experience in . Now that he ran into someone who was skilled in this and had a large variety of Spells, he did not want to give up on such an opportunity .
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Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
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