Sundering Nature - Volume 4 Chapter 35

A loud crack was produced as Li Huaibei struck the barrier with his sword. The soul weapon's spirit bellowed and Stagaze's barrier shattered. Before Li Huaibei could escape, the sky was illuminated once again and another barrier was erected.

Another crack rang out, and Stargaze began perspiring profusely. However, the light in her irises danced even more vividly. "Just wait a moment…"

Two more light cracks followed, but this time it came from within Li Yiming's body; the latter's last two veins were gone. Bing Shuai had a look of sadistic enjoyment, his eyelids half-closed as though he was appreciating good music. 'Can a guardian’s talents be frozen and shattered too?' An idea suddenly came to Bing Shuai's mind, and he continued to channel his power.

'Yiming…' Bai Ze called out to Li Yiming in despair. She could feel that Li Yiming had lost of his power, and since she was connected to him, she suffered the same fate.

As his heavenly veins were grounded to dust, the light that otherwise occupied Li Yiming's body dimmed down. His body began to age and withered down like a plant that has not been watered for too long.

'He… He's not stopping… He's going to destroy your talent too…' Bai Ze muttered. As the freezing cold began to invade Li Yiming's consciousness, Bai Ze closed her eyes and felt her senses leave her one by one.

"Hear me well, Stargaze… I swear that I'll take your life one day…" After hearing the five cracking noises from the garden, Li Huaibei stopped hacking at the barrier in front of him and began to prepare a powerful attack.

"Please… Just one more moment…" Stargaze replied hesitantly as her stare pierced through Li Yiming's body and soul. She was confident that she had not imagined it. There was something within Li Yiming that even she feared. 'His eyes at that moment… The fear I felt was not a mistake, something within him is beyond my understanding…'

Tian Yan stood at the edge of the swimming pool. She could see Fu Bo's silhouette within the bubble of light barrier. In her dark world, Fu Bo was light a beacon of light that guided her. However, next to him were two people with abnormally strong heavenly karma, one of whom was even stronger than Bing Shuai's, and Tian Yan did not dare to go close to them.

However, when Stargaze pushed Fu Bo away to fight with Li Huaibei, he fell exactly around the swimming pool. Tian Yan resolved herself and crawled toward him.

'A restriction seal has been cast over him…' Tian Yan concluded after investigating the flickering runic glyphs that enveloped Fu Bo's body . She clasped her hands together and began to sing softly. She had a simple thougt. 'Fu Bo's been restrained… I have to help him…'

Although Tian Yan was powerless, she had her own ways. She had been living in the mansion for more than a decade, and Bing Shuai had put something there tailored to her — runic formations.

The stone platform in the basement lit up suddenly. Shining runic glyphs spiraled into the air. A voice which echoed Tian Yan's chanting resonated in the room. The light intensified and the chanting grew stronger and stronger.

Suddenly, the light around the stone platform coalesced, and the platform itself turned to dust with a loud crack. Tian Yan raised her head, and two beams of silvery light shot out from her eyes toward Fu Bo.

Tian Yan had opted for a simple but effective method. Using the powers of the runic formation, she had destroyed all of the karma threads connecting Fu Bo to the world. With the absence of a power source, the spell cast on him by Stargaze simply fizzled out.

As the cold began to slowly overtake his consciousness, droplets of blood rolled down Li Yiming's face. There was no anger and no grievance, but only a strong desire to live.

A desire for survival, for everything to not end like this…

This was the last thought Li Yiming hung onto.

Just as Li Yiming was about to collapse, an orb of light deep within his consciousness flickered to life. Strangely, the way it shone seemed to echo his emotions, and it became a material expression of his sadness and bitterness.

The glyph which had appeared where his talent should have been suddenly emitted an explosion of light. The ethereal looking character became well defined and shone like a small sun in Li Yiming's body.

At the same time, Li Yiming's veins, which had been frozen to dust, began to regain their glow and to reassemble themselves into one single golden entity that coursed through Li Yiming's whole body.

Although Stargaze was focusing her attention on Li Yiming, she suddenly frowned and noticed Tian Yan.

"What are you doing?" Stargaze shouted out in anger and raised her hand, prepared to stop Tian Yan at all cost. Fu Bo was far more important than her curiosity for Li Yiming, and Stargaze did not hesitate to strike down anyone who dared coming close to Fu Bo

Her intervention was cut short by Li Huaibei, who seized the opportunity of the distraction and unleashed his anger. He directed his gleaming blade at Stargaze's back.

Clink!

Stargaze had turned around just in time and blocked Li Huaibei's attack with her own weapon. It was a crescent dagger with stars and moons carved onto the blade. However, this made her miss the opportunity to stop Yian Yan's machinations.

"You…" Stargaze exclaimed in anger. Li Huaibei cut her sentence short with another frantic slash directed at her throat. Stargaze swallowed down her sigh and dove into combat against Li Huaibei.

'I did it…'

As the white and pure silhouette began to stir, Tian Yan forced out a gentle smile and collapsed on the ground. Even with the aid of the formation, it was still a heavy burden her to forcefully influence the spell of a sage.

On the other side of the garden, the sight of Li Yiming frozen into a statue finally gave Bing Shuai dearly missed pleasure and contently. Li Yiming's veins had been destroyed, and with his talent gone, he would never be able to recover.

Just as the thought of torturing Li Yiming produced a twisted smile on Bing Shuai's face, Li Yiming opened his eyes.

When his eyes met those of Li Yiming's Bing Shuai felt as though he was facing a diabolical beast. Li Yiming eyes contained such a raw outburst of emotions that even through the thick layers of ice, Bing Shuai felt a shiver run down his spine.

Roar!

The shockwave that was released from Li Yiming's bestial roar shattered the ice that covered him.

This roar interrupted the heated battle between Li Huaibei and Stargaze. The two split with one last clash between their weapons and turned toward Li Yiming. Li Huaibei had confusion written all over his face, while Stargaze seemed to have expected the change.

The shockwave sent Fu Bo flying, along with some low walls in the garden, almost into the half-frozen swimming pool. When Fu Bo raised his head, he saw something that he would never be able to forget.

Li Yiming stood half-naked from the waist up as he shone with a golden light. The rags that were once his pants fluttered in the air. Bing Shuai levitated in front of him with frost and snow fluttering at his feet. 'This man… He was the one that questioned me when I was captured!'

"Impossible!" Bing Shuai raised both of his hands and performed a seal before pushing it toward Li Yiming.

"Ice Age!" With an angry shout, a pale flood of snow and ice was released from Bing Shuai’s hands. This was the technique Bing Shuai had learned after becoming a sage, and this blow was

Li Yiming subconsciously raised his right hand to block Bing Shuai's blow. The avalanche of snow and ice crashed into Li Yiming's right palm, and a layer of frost began to creep up his arm.

"Yiming!" Li Huaibei called out in concern and leaped toward Li Yiming. However, once again, Stargaze stopped him.

"There's nothing you can do even if you go there. That's Yan Bing's ace in the hole, and he's casting it at full strength. Not even you can block that attack. Besides…", Li Huaibei finally understood what Stargaze was implying.

"Yiming!" Li Huabei was not the only one who was concerned about Li Yiming. Fu Bo also witnessed the attack, and seeing his friend struggle made him forget everything else and limp toward Li Yiming to help him. However, he was instantly blown back by the cold gusts of wind that spread around; the power of a sage was not something he could interfere with.

Upon hearing Fu Bo's voice, Li Yiming managed to regain control of his own body. His eyes regained their clarity, and he quickly became aware of his current predicament. Li Yiming knew that even with this mysterious power that was coursing through his veins, he could not hold off a sage, especially someone like Bing Shuai, who had been working toward the next level for several decades already.

"Write! Write down everything that is happening here!" Despite his numbing right arm, Li Yiming retrieved an old laptop from his bracelet and tossed it to Fu Bo.

Bing Shuai snorted in disdain when he saw it. 'Ha! A laptop? What could you possibly do with that?' He continued to pour more of his strength into his attack; he wanted all of this to be concluded especially after the feeling Li Yiming gave him earlier.

Fu Bo caught the laptop. After a brief period of shock and confusion, he sat down and pushed the power button. He did not have time to even begin to think about what was happening, but he knew that Li Yiming was his friend, and that he put himself in danger for his sake.

As the sound of typing began to ring out in the garden, a semi-transparent curtain of light spread around him. The apparition was not even big enough to cover Li Yiming, but it made all three sages present

Big brain Li Yiming

"A protective realm…? You… You're the Recorder?" Bing Shuai turned in Fu Bo's direction, but even he could not see through Fu Bo's barrier.

"This is bad!" Stargaze raised his head toward the skies and exclaimed. She had never thought that Li Yiming would use Fu Bo in such a way.

A hole suddenly appeared in the sky, as if the dark and gloomy sky was torn asunder. Crimson thunderclouds could be seen billowing on the other side of the opening.

"Shit!" Stargaze could not stop herself from cursing anymore. She knocked on her crescent blade with her left hand, turning the starry carvings on the steel into a million shards of light that encircled her, and vanished the next second.

"It's Heaven's Punishment! Fu Bo's realm removed Yan Bing's boundary! Nicely done, Li Yiming!" Li Huaibei raised his right hand and struck his own abdomen without hesitation, causing him to fall downward after spitting out a mouthful of blood.

When Heaven's Punishment was summoned, it immediately locked onto the three biggest targets, Li Huaibei, Stargaze, and Bing Shuai. Stargaze escaped by destroying her own weapon, but not everyone had that luxury. Li Huaibei had opted for a more direct method — he sealed his own powers to avoid being targeted. Although Li Huaibei suffered grave injuries, he would escape Heaven's Punishment's relentless pursuit.

Bing Shuai finally understood the reason behind Fu Bo's strange technique, and also why Stargaze and Li Huaibei were ready to do anything to protect him. 'If only I had known better… It's all too late now.'

Bing Shuai decided to imitate Li Huaibei. He delivered a strike to his own abdomen and fell out of the skies, right in front of Li Yiming.

By now, the sea of fire that raged violently within the crimson cloud was clearly seen in the skies, as though it was sent to purge all of the sins in this world.

"It's the Divine Fire Punishment… It's the Samadhi Fire…" Bing Shuai gazed at the skies in fear. The strength of Heaven's Punishment incited by three sages was no small token.

The next instant, he saw Li Yiming throw a venomous stare at him, unmoved by the blaze above his head.

"I hope you won't burn to ashes, Li Yiming. Once Heaven's Punishment is over, I'll show you true despair. I'll capture your friends, your family and torture them one by one in front of you. I'll let you know what hell on Earth means." Bing Shuai's anger and frustration peaked once again when he saw the maker of his misery.

"You won't have the chance." Li Yiming replied coldly. "Thunderous Strike!"

A small rift appeared in the sky as Li Yiming raised his right hand, and a bolt of lightning descended straight toward Bing Shuai.

"Are you insane? You dare to attack me in the presence of Heaven's Punishment?" Bing Shuai was outraged. With the enhancement from that mysterious stone, Li Yiming had already exceeded the fifth level, and Thunderous Strike poured every last drop of power within him into a single attack. Normally, Bing Shuai would be able to blow such a petty blow with ease, but he had already sealed his powers to escape the wrath of Heaven's Punishment. To block the attack was to call upon his powers again, and to expose himself once more.

"No!!!" Bing Shuai roared furiously. A white light spread from his abdomen and enveloped his entire body against the purple lightning; the energy in his body mobilized to protect his life before he could react.

The lightning bolt vanished along with the small rupture in the sky, but the next second, punishment befell. A spark erupted from where Bing Shuai's laid prone, turning into a blazing ball of fire that covered his entire body.

"I… I will…remember…" Bing Shuai's voice was suddenly cut off, leaving nothing, not even dust behind.

At the same time, a spark erupted from beneath Li Yiming's feet. Li Yiming smiled wryly and thought to himself. 'If I had even a shred of energy left, I could teleport into Fu Bo's realm, and maybe escape Heaven's Punishment. But against an opponent like Bing Shuai, only Thunderous Strike would work… Oh well, my life for a sage's… It's worth it!'

The fire grew rapidly and enveloped Li Yiming instantly. Li Yiming closed his eyes and accepted his fate. However, the mysterious runic glyph within Li Yiming’s consciousness shone once again, emitting a barrier of golden light that protected him from the ravages of the flames.

After not feeling any pain for an extended period of time, Li Yiming opened his eyes in confusion. 'What is this?'

The flames turned Li Yiming into a human torch, but regardless of how strongly they burned, they could not penetrate Li Yiming's golden barrier.

"His body is being forged in the divine fire?" Within the wreckage, Li Huaibei peeked out and his expression changed from apprehension to disbelief. 'He continues to surprise me… Li Yiming…'

Eventually, the fire dispersed, and the crimson thunderclouds scattered. Li Yiming emerged out of the furnace naked, his skin glistening under the sun. The golden light around his limbs flickered a few times and vanished. Li Yiming's powers had been miraculously restored, and he had grown even stronger. As for the mysterious glyph within his body, it dimmed out and seemed even more ethereal than when it first appeared.

Li Yiming scanned his surrounding and scratched his head in confusion. To his horror, he realized that he was now bald. He awkwardly withdrew a set of clothes from his storage bracelet and ran towards Fu Bo, who was the real hero of the day.

Before Li Yiming could approach him, however, a rainbow-colored ray of light descended from the heavens, enveloping Fu Bo's entire protective realm.

"Stay away!" Just as Li Yiming was about to dash in, Li Huaibei stopped him.

"What is that?" Li Yiming turned around and asked Li Huaibei, who barely made his way out of the wreckage.

"It's the Path of Guidance. He's been exposed. Heaven's Laws is taking him away…" Li Huaibei answered as he looked at the rainbow in the sky.

The transparent ripples generated by Fu Bo's domain vanished, and Li Yiming could see his friend smiling at him with a broken laptop in his hand.

"Fu Bo!"

"You can't stop this. No one can…" Li Huaibei put his hand on Li Yiming's shoulder and held him down, worried that the latter would do something rash.

Fu Bo continued his ascension, eventually disappearing into the crack in the sky. After that, the fissure began to slowly close off.

"What's going to happen to him?" Li Yiming withdrew his gaze and turned toward Li Huaibei.

"I don't know. Perhaps he'll be teleported to another place to continue his writing, living a life that no one knows. Or perhaps another Recorder will replace him…" Li Huaibei let go of Li Yiming's shoulder and shook his head in resignation; this was the closest he had been to the truth in so many years, and yet it ended in failure once again.

"Fu Bo…" Li Yiming looked at the sky, a tear slid down his cheek.

"Let's go." Li Huaibei gave Li Yiming a pat on his shoulder. "You really are full of surprises." With one last stare, he was suddenly gone.

Li Yiming did not have the luxury of considering why Li Huaibei suddenly left. He looked at the wreckage around him, and the usual sense of relief that came with the termination of a domain was missing: this was the real world, and he would have to live with the consequences of what had transpired.

"Ji Xiaoqin?" Li Yiming suddenly remembered and leaped to the second floor. She was still unconscious, lying still in the half broken bedroom. Upon further inspection, she seemed to be unharmed. However, Li Yiming did notice the bare red string around her neck. 'My stone… That glyph?'

Suddenly, the wail of sirens was heard in the distance. Li Yiming picked up Ji Xiaoqin, glanced one last time at Guo Xiang, who seemed more dead than alive in a corner of the room, and vanished behind the ruined building.

After Li Yiming left, Tian Yan slowly sat herself up by the side of the pool. She held a golden business card in her hand. Li Ping Consulting Co. — Wang Li Ping

At the entrance of the neighborhood, a young woman in full black tights waved to stop a car. She dove inside under the perverse stare of the driver, but not before raising her head toward the sky one last time.

In an office in the capital, Stargaze sprawled on her office chair with blood still around the corner of her lips. She picked up her brush and wrote three big characters on the paper in front of her. Li Yiming.

On the other side of the world, a block of ice on a frozen mountain peak began to slowly crack. A frail hand reached out as a hoarse voice rang out from within. "Li Yiming, I swear I'll kill you. I will not rest until you are dead!"

In a small fishing village in the northern sea, a skinny man squatted near a pond's edge, observing the perfect stillness of the water. He pulled the plastic knitted bag at his feet closer to him and whispered: "Li Yiming…"

The author himself left a note at the end of the chapter about how quickly the chapters went by, and, most importantly, that he himself did not quite know what to do or what to make of Ji Xiaoqin. I guess we’ll know about her ultimate fate soon enough.