Chapter 129 - The Soul-Comforting Spell
Days went by like this, and, before Shi Mu had realized it, two months time had passed. Now it was time for him to conduct the next Blood-and-Marrow Cleansing. Though he had long since prepared himself for it, mentally, when the Devil Qi, again,invaded his body, the excruciating pain was even stronger than the last time. Even with his superhuman perseverance and ability to bear pain, Shi Mu shuddered at the thought of the third experience that was to come in a few months time. Fortunately, he had reached the fifth level in the Art of the Heavenly Elephant, which helped him tremendously in protecting his veins, so at least the hellish second Blood-and-Marrow Cleansing, though painful, ended successfully.
After he recovered from the pain and exhaustion, he was delighted to find that his physical strength and toughness had been boosted to a great extent. Currently, his speed and strength had almost been doubled compared to what it was before he began the Art of the Strong Ape. Thus his confidence was greatly enhanced. With a cheerful heart, he continued to climb up the ladder to the third level.
However, after three months, when he steeled himself for the third wave of pain, he found his luck had been exhausted.
Shi Mu was sitting on his stone bed, his face puckering in pain. His bare upper-body was already smudged with blood, as if he had just finished taking a shower in blood. Every pore was leaking blood, as if someone had been cutting at his muscles with a sharp-edged knife. His bed was already dyed red.
At this moment, his marrow seemed to groan, as though being gnawed at by hundreds of ants, which created an unbearable numbness mixed with itchiness. This time, the pain was two times worse than last time. It seemed to focus on Shi Mu’s spirit, so much so that Shi Mu almost broke down. At length, after having endured the constant pain for a complete hour, Shi Mu fainted, darkness filling his eyes.
......
Shi Mu’s consciousness gradually returned, and, by reflex, he shook his head in an attempt to shake off the dizziness and heaviness he felt. But, to his great shock, he found himself unable to budge an inch. He groped in the dark, and stared out at his surroundings, then was filled with shock: white hair had sprouted all over his body! He was that mysterious white ape again! He was in his dream, except that the environment had shifted. He was not on the familiar boulder on the cliff, but in a huge open space, surrounded by verdant trees. The trees seemed to tower into the sky, each at least as high as three thousand meters. Quiet and energetic, these giants stood and watched the world.
Suddenly, a booming noise resounded, shaking the earth, and dragging Shi Mu’s consciousness back to the ape’s body. By then, he had noticed that, this time, the ape was not practicing the Moon-Swallowing Art, but had half of his body buried in the earth, leaving his hairy head sticking out. It seemed he was at the center of a great formula drawn on the ground, dotted thickly with unfathomable characters and brightly flashing patterns. These patterns extended out in all directions, constructing the immense formula that was blurred by lights and shadows.
At either side of the formula stood a mountainous yellow-cloaked man. Their heads were cleanly shaven, making light gleam off of them. Their features were as ugly as a ferocious ghost’s. Every vein in every muscle protruded. The two men were each wearing sloppy yellow cloaks, with glittering silver magic characters on the surface of these cloaks.
The two were both expressionless. They each had an iron hammer the length of thirty meters in their hands. They were hammering at the periphery of the formula, each strike making an earthshaking noise, and simultaneously shooting silver light into the formula, making the lights on it flash even more wildly.
Meanwhile, at the center of the formula, Shi Mu could feel the earth vibrating, and strange energies wrapping him in like cool liquids, squeezing him constantly. As the silver hammer in the yellow-cloaked giant’s hands moved even faster, the pressure of the strange energy grew accordingly. Shi Mu felt his body temperature falling, and the energy soon penetrated his skin, like countless tiny needles.
The white ape screeched, grimacing in pain. The tiny needles of energy whizzed into his body, occupying his organs, and stabbed fiercely. The inexpressible agony inflicted Shi Mu to the extent of wishing to die. More frighteningly, Shi Mu’s spirit felt fits of pain tenfold times more excruciating than that he experienced before he fainted.
Thirty meters away from the silver formula, a white-haired elder with long brows was floating in the air on a dark green cushion. He saw the white ape screaming in the formula, and then raised his brows and flicked his fingers, muttering something under his long brows. This old man was the mysterious elder in Shi Mu’s dream that had imparted the Moon-Swallowing Art to him.
By now, Shi Mu had neared another breakdown, and the gnawing pain was about to make him lose consciousness again. He felt like he was going to faint in a few breaths, unable to resist the pain any longer.
But just then, the elder’s incantation, which eluded his comprehension, reached his ears, clearly and sonorously. Then, to his surprise, the white ape began to imitate the elder, despite its great pain, muttering those words with a widely opened mouth, like a human being. The language of the incantation sounded both foreign and familiar to Shi Mu, as if he had spoken it himself a thousand times before.
Then the most eerie thing happened. As the ape articulated the words, the pain in his body and spirit began to wear off, until what was left was fairly tolerable. This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise to Shi Mu. He relaxed a bit, but the next moment, the dizziness came over him again, and, before he knew it, he lost consciousness.
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