296 Invitation

At that moment, the stone bowl shattered. The few drops of blood within also disappeared. The old man trembled and coughed out a huge mouthful of blood before he was thrown into the wall beside him by a powerful and invisible force.
It was also at that moment that the door leading to the top of the tower was pushed open. Phantom Dais’ Elder walked in with a sullen expression on his face, but when he saw the mess in the place, he was stunned.
"How could this be..? This… This is…" The old man had a bewildered look on his face as he leaned against the wall. There was terror in his voice as he continued mumbling under his breath.
Phantom Dais’ Elder reached him in a step, and once he helped the bewildered old man to his feet, he immediately asked, "What happened?!"
"I was looking for the next Phantom Equal… There was nothing wrong with the ritual, and I also saw him… but… but what I saw was…"
The old man shuddered, then lifted his head swiftly to grab the shoulders of Phantom Dais’ Elder. His breathing quickened, and the bewildered look on his face was no longer present; it was instead replaced by lucidity.
"I understand now! Remember this. Do not provoke that person called Su Ming. Absolutely do not provoke him… I saw something I shouldn’t have, I saw…" The old man held Phantom Dais’ Elder in a tight grip and his breathing grew increasingly faster as he spoke with huge difficulty.
"I can’t tell you what I saw, but you must remember this. Don’t… provoke… him… He… He is…" The old man’s body started convulsing viciously. He pushed away the stunned Phantom Dais’ Elder and seized his own throat. Madness appeared in his eyes.
A presence that made Phantom Dais’ Elder tremble gathered in the house. The strength of that presence made the Elder’s skin crawl, and he found himself frozen to the ground. His pupils shrank, because the things he saw far surpassed what he knew and exceeded his wildest imaginations. It even made him forget how to breathe.
He saw a semi-transparent hand before the old Phantom Equal, and that hand held the Phantom Equal’s neck in a tight grip. It lifted his body from the ground, and gradually, as the Phantom Equal struggled, he lost all his power. Like a normal old man, he lost all his power to fight back.
Yet Mo Shan knew that he himself was not the strongest person within Phantom Dais Tribe. The strongest was the Phantom Equal! Even if the Phantom Equal was already at the last days of his life, the power needed to kill such a person slowly like how one would a normal person was unimaginable to Mo Shan.
He was shaken to the core as he watched everything unfurl before him dumbstruck. He gradually saw a semi-transparent person wearing the Emperor’s robe appearing before the Phantom Equal. That person’s appearance did not bring about the rise of wind or surging of clouds, neither did it cause the weather to change, but a terror that made Mo Shan feel as if he was suffocating.
It was as if he had turned into an ant, and with just one glance from that semi-transparent person wearing the Emperor’s robe and crown, his body would be torn to shreds.
It only lasted for the span of a few breaths, but that time felt like an eternity to Mo Shan. He saw that semi-transparent person break the Phantom Equal’s neck, and once he let go, he cast a glance at him.
When he looked over, booming sounds rang in Mo Shan’s head and his vision turned white. He did not know just how much time had passed, but when he regained consciousness, the house was silent. There was not a hint of sound within. The only proof that told him that all that had happened was real was the rigid corpse lying on the ground.
Mo Shan trembled as he looked at the Phantom Equal’s corpse, and the old man’s last words echoed in his head.
"I saw something I shouldn’t have… Remember this. Absolutely do not provoke the person called Su Ming… Do not… provoke him…"
Mo Shan shuddered and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He knew that he would never be able to forget what had happened before the Phantom Equal died and when that crowned semi-transparent person looked at him.
"Just what did he see..? Who is he..?" The two ‘he’s represented two different people. Mo Shan stayed silent.
In his silence, he did not notice a faint gust of wind blowing outside the tall tower and within Phantom Dais City… That wind came from Freezing Sky.
There were plenty of rumors in the world, and there were also a large amount of them that never faded away even through time. The rumor about the entire ninth summit moving out together to attack Northern Frontier Tribe gradually spread out in a short span of time.
Some were shocked, some were furious, some did not believe it, and some just scoffed at it.
Yet no matter what, another rumor was added to the pile of rumors that had emerged over the years regarding the ninth summit.
Those living within the ninth summit continued with their lives. Eldest senior brother continued isolating himself, second senior brother continued planting flowers, letting the sun shine on the side of his face with a gentle smile on his face during day, while he searched for darkness during night-time like a ghost.
As for Hu Zi, since he got himself a good pot of wine, he had been grinning happily everyday like an idiot while drinking himself into oblivion. He had even skipped a few days on his favorite past time - peeking at others.
Su Ming continued copying the second Style that granted him extreme speed, controlled the arrangement of his Divine General Armor, trained his body, and made the final preparations for Sky Mist Shaman Hunt.
Zi Che’s injuries had become better. As for Zhuo Ge, Su Ming had told Zi Che to deliver his head to the first summit, to Si Ma Xin’s cave abode.
In truth, there was something bothering Su Ming, but that question did not involve Si Ma Xin. It was meant for his second senior brother instead, but he did not ask him. Perhaps second senior brother had his own secrets, that was why he could not cure Zi Che beforehand.
Ever since Bai Su came back, she did not look for Su Ming for the past half a month, which was a rarity. It was as if she had run into something that threw her into doubt and she needed time to think about it carefully.
Half a month later, when she arrived once more, Su Ming saw more of what reminded him of Bai Ling on her.
The returned Bai Su had returned to her usual self - spoiled and wilful. She would occasionally try to disturb Su Ming, but the price she had to pay every single time was her having to hang upside down in the air, which was something she was already used to.
Time passed by this way slowly, until there were only less than two months until Sky Mist Shaman Hunt! During those final two months, even Su Ming, who never went down the mountain, could feel an oppressive air enveloping Freezing Sky Clan, just like the calm before a storm.
One day, when Zi Che returned, he brought an invitation card for Su Ming.
That invitation belonged to the biggest trading square nearby and was given to him by the auction committee. The auction this time would be the biggest within Freezing Sky Clan’s territory before the battle!
The committee was not composed of people from the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky but from Western Sea Clan! This was a custom, a custom that would only happen during the great war that only happened once a century. There would also be quite a number of people from Western Sea Clan who would also receive invitations from Freezing Sky Clan to join their own large-scale auction.
Su Ming was originally not too interested in this sort of auction, right until the moment he saw something that would be auctioned among the list of items on the invitation card, something that made his heart pound heavily against his chest!
It was an undamaged cauldron to create medicinal pills!