Chapter 148 – 114: Major Event One: Battle of the Dragon Ninja (Nine)_2
Then he leaped forward, hands clenched around the hilt of his blade, driving it downward and instantly piercing through Ke Xiaomo, who was flung upward, leaving a massive gash in his abdomen.
Thrust!
Blood burst forth like a fountain, staining Ke Xiaomo’s clothes and face red.
With almost no strength to defend himself, his body convulsed, his gaze hollow as he fell toward the ground.
The glass curtain walls he passed shattered, as if bidding him farewell. Thousands of glass fragments fell like a torrential rain, following over his head, resembling butterflies.
Ke Xiaomo listened to the dragon’s roar by his ears and slowly closed his eyelids.
The moment before his eyes shut, he seemed to see, reflected on the thousands of falling glass shards, a flurry of fragmented images.
Like a carousel.
He stared at one of the glass pieces and saw the evening sky reflected above.
It was a scene reminiscent of nostalgia.
Exquisitely beautiful.
…
……
Three years earlier.
Ke Xiaomo hung upside down from a cliff, hands joined in prayer, quietly gazing at the distant sunset. The wind brushed against his nose as he watched the sunrise, sunset, nightfall, and the flourishing of grass and birds in this valley.
Eventually, at dusk one day, an unknown eagle appeared, severing the rope tied around his feet.
Then, he fell from the sky.
Wild winds roared by his ears, and the ground magnified in his pupils.
Finally, as he neared the valley’s bottom, he transformed into a shadow and merged into the surface of the cliff.
Within the shadows, he unfurled a pair of wings, flapping them upward, his bird-like shadow swiftly scaling the cliffside, as fast as an arrow shot by Hou Yi.
But it was not yet over.
At the moment he reached the cliff’s top, his form suddenly broke free.
Then, a giant bird woven from shadows rose from behind him, its claws lifting him towards the sky.
He flew, just like a bird.
The bird of prey frantically flapped its wings, lifting him from the cliff’s edge into the sky.
Through the clouds, straight to the setting sun.
He bathed in the twilight’s afterglow, feeling as if he were God in that moment. His dark garments fluttered, trembling rapidly in the wind like a bird’s tail feathers. Stay connected through empire
“You have succeeded,” the Sect Master, with his hands clasped behind his back, looked up at Ke Xiaomo, “Bird of prey, this is your ’Shadow Heart.’”
He paused, “You are the first to utilize the Shadow Shapeshifting Skill without touching a shadow, perhaps this is a characteristic of the ’bird of prey.’”
Ke Xiaomo retracted his shadow wings and landed atop the cliff, standing side by side with the Sect Master.
“But ’bird of prey’ sounds rather frail, I thought I could comprehend a ’Shadow Heart,’ strong and vigorous like a lion, like yours,” Ke Xiaomo said.
“No,” the Sect Master shook his head, “Each kind of ’Shadow Heart’ is unique. Since the founding of the Ninja Sect, through more than a dozen generations of disciples, those who have comprehended their ’Shadow Heart’ have invariably become the next Sect Master of the Ninja Sect. This means, you are destined to be my successor, taking over my position in the future.””
Ke Xiaomo was silent for a long time, “Am I really suitable for such an important position?”
“Of course, you are far more suitable than you think,” the Sect Master smiled. “As long as you can transform your Shadow Heart from abstract into reality, that will be the day you take over my position.”
“Transform abstract into reality… how can that be achieved?”
“There is only one key point, listen carefully, each form of Shadow Heart has its unique symbol, a spirit,” the Sect Master explained slowly, “So, you need to understand what your Shadow Heart symbolizes, get to know it, feel it, and then you can truly unite with it, become one with it.”
“What does my Shadow Heart symbolize…”
Ke Xiaomo pondered.
“That is a question only you can answer, no one else can find the answer for you,” the Sect Master said.
“Then, what does your Shadow Heart symbolize?”
The Sect Master was silent for a while, “Ambition.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, self-deprecatingly saying, “But for the so-called ambition, I struggled and stumbled for half my life, only to find that the people around me are what matter the most.”
“The lion represents, ambition… then what does the bird of prey symbolize…”
As Ke Xiaomo pondered this, suddenly he heard bird calls coming from the setting sun and looked up to see the birds flying toward the direction of the sunset.
He opened his mouth slightly, unconsciously uttering a term.
“Freedom.”
…
…
Ke Xiaomo’s body plummeted from a hundred meters high in the sky towards the earth, spinning continuously, the howling wind tearing at his face and twisting every strand of his hair.
His blurred gaze lingered on those glass pieces, memories flashing briefly across the chaotic images.
Suddenly, a vague human voice echoed by his ears.
From initially indistinct to increasingly louder.
The daily instructions of the Sect Master thundered in his ears like rolling thunder.
“We must kill all the dragons of calamity.”
“The dragons of calamity are our generational enemies.”
The world seemed enveloped in the mourning of dragon cries and the solemn teachings, and between them, a thousand people rhythmically struck the ground with the hilt of their knives, like an ancient courtroom.
“Even if it’s your brother.”
“Even if it’s your family.”
“It’s the rule.”
“It’s justice.”
No.
I was born…
As free as a bird of prey.
There is no need…
To be bound by any rules…