274 Daze (1/2)

Once Bai Su left, Zi Che bowed towards Su Ming respectfully and quickly left the cave. Only when he was about 100 feet away from the cave did he let out a huge breath. He turned his head back and cast a glance at the cave where Su Ming was. His eyes were filled with respect.

‘He’s… no longer the same.’

Zi Che could not pinpoint the details. This was merely a feeling of his.

Under the dark sky and within the cave abode, Su Ming breathed calmly and silently meditated. The injuries on his person were already controlled, and as he recovered his breathing, his wounds began to heal.

When dawn arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes. There was no shining light within them, only clarity. He looked at the darkness beyond his cave. A chilling gust of wind blew in and lifted a few locks of his hair to float before his face.

‘The battle in the land of the Shamans…’

Su Ming lowered his head and looked at his hands. A contemplative look appeared on his face. In his mind, the scenes that had happened right from the moment he chased down and killed the remaining half of the Split Dawn alone to the moment he walked out of Lizard Shaman Tribe slowly appeared.

”I made a few mistakes in this fight,” Su Ming mumbled. He lifted his left hand and picked up the drawing board before he began drawing on its back with his right hand. Gradually, pictures appeared on his drawing board.

The first thing that appeared was a small hill in a dense forest. His body stood on the hill and was charging down. Below the hill, the remaining half of the Split Dawn was similarly approaching him.

‘Even though I had paid a high amount of attention to the enemy… At the critical moment of the battle, I neglected checking the terrain of the place. Even if I didn’t know of the strangeness there, when I saw my target suddenly pausing, I should have been cautious.’

Su Ming looked at the drawing board and the very first scene of the fight appeared clearly in his head.

‘I could have not been injured by this fight… There was also the boy. I also could have not made any mistakes when I met him. Even if I didn’t kill him, I could have brought him with me and let him go when I was safe.’

Su Ming closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he flicked the drawing board with his right hand and a thin layer of dust flew up. Once the previous drawing was erased, he continued drawing on the board with his right hand.

It was still a forest that appeared on the drawing board this time, and within that forest, a dozen Shamans were charging to the tree where Su Ming was sitting from all around him.

‘I was not vigilant enough. My actions were not careful enough. I was in Shaman territory. If I had set up traps before I started resting… If I had brought out the red meadow before I started resting… then I wouldn’t have needed to use the treasure eldest senior brother gave me. I could also not have suffered so many wounds and killed all these people!’

Su Ming waved his right hand and continued drawing on the board. Soon, the scene of him being chased by the old Shaman in the forest and his subsequent counterattack appeared on the drawing board.

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes as he looked at the picture.

‘I didn’t make any mistakes in this battle… If I hadn’t made the previous two mistakes, then perhaps this battle wouldn’t have occurred. Even if it had, winning this battle wouldn’t have been so difficult for me since I’d have bought enough time for myself.

‘My trip to the land of the Shamans this time showed me just how much I’m lacking in real battle… I need to be careful, more careful!’

Firm resolution appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.

Finding out and summing up all his mistakes in his battle while figuring out all his inadequacies was one of the ways Su Ming made himself stronger.

This life and death crisis did not just bring him the joy of narrowly escaping death. If that was the case, then perhaps he would never have a second chance to narrowly escape death again.

To Su Ming, a life and death crisis should bring about transformation and growth so that he could continue improving himself. He could continue rectifying his mistakes and how he dealt with things, then when he was in the face of danger again, he could have more chances to survive.

‘I have to make each move carefully. I have to remain alert for danger that might appear at any time before I take any action. Only by doing so can I become stronger, as well as survive during Shaman Hunt.’

Su Ming closed his eyes and engraved the lesson from the trip this time in his head.

‘Besides the inadequacies in my actions, there’s also something else that I need to be careful of and rectify as well.’

Su Ming opened his eyes and lifted his right hand to draw a line across the air before him. Once he drew it, Su Ming looked at the spot where he just drew with brilliantly shining eyes.

‘This line may be complete. Perhaps it’s not perfect, but with my current power and understanding, this is my limit… but besides this line, I have nothing else I can use to fight against strong enemies…’

He frowned. Before he entered the ninth summit, he had not had this worry.

Yet since he joined the ninth summit and searched for the method to clear his mind according to Tian Xie Zi’s teachings, he had not had any chances to learn any other Arts.

The battle against the Shaman Tribe let Su Ming learn of his weakness and inadequacy.

‘I don’t have enough divine abilities… I was good with my speed to begin with, but it wasn’t enough when I fought against the old Shaman! It’s not just my divine abilities and speed, my defenses were the same.

‘The Divine General Armor can still resist the attacks dealt by those around the same level of cultivation as me, but when I meet those stronger than I am, then the Armor isn’t able to repair itself in time. Because I didn’t go to the Great Yu Dynasty to get my real Armor, that’s why it’s not sturdy.

‘Thank goodness I have Han Mountain Bell, but I mainly use it to stun my enemies with the bell chimes, not defense. Using it for defense is a last resort.