Warrior's Promise

Su Mo sat cross-legged on the ground quietly. He seemed to have lost the will to fight.

Qing Xuan was in the hands of the High Priest. This crushed his hopes and sent his mind into a dark abyss from which he could not seem to escape.

Time passed by slowly. Wu Chang Yuan had already entered the Cultivation Room, but Su Mo remained sitting, transfixed.

What had happened to Qing Xuan?

Su Mo was worried sick.

He seemed to be out of options.

How could he possibly save her?

He could wait until he possessed the power of the Martial Sage, but that process could take years. It would be far too late!

Had the High Priest taken Hong Qing Xuan as his lover?

This was highly unlikely!

The High Priest's cultivation from the Martial Sage Realm would make it impossible to take Qing Xuan as a lover. Unless Qing Xuan was cultivated until she reached the peak of the Martial Honoured Realm Cultivation, it simply could not happen.

Was the High Priest enthralled by Qing Xuan's beauty?

This was even more unlikely!

The High Priest's status and cultivation strength are so immense, he likely already possesses the most beautiful women. It is said that the he need only wave a hand, and tens of thousands of women throw themselves into his arms.

It's true that Qing Xuan was gorgeous, but surely the High Priest had many beautiful women and needn't pursue her.

Why, then, did the High Priest take Qing Xuan?

After meditating deeply, Su Mo resolved that he needed to understand the whole situation and rescue Qing Xuan. There was only one way he could accomplish this: finding the High Priest!

This plan was indeed extremely dangerous. One mistake and he would surely die.

However, he was not afraid of the danger. The main problem was the more realistic question of how he was going to find and get close to High Priest.

His current physical state and Cultivation Strength were surely far below that of the High Priest. Su Mo certainly couldn't fight his way to him.

He thought carefully and looked for memories in the Seeking Soul, searching for ways to get close to the High Priest.

Soon, he came upon a solution.

Among the descendants of the Sorcerer Tribe from Heavenly Underworld Star, every five years a young priest would be selected from the entire tribe. After the selection, four priests from the Martial Sage Realm would personally guide the new, young priest in his cultivation and teach him to how to use and control witchcraft. This cultivating process and training usually lasted fifty years.

After fifty years, this selected priest would then become one of the core elders of the Tribe.

These core elders served as the pillars of the Sorcerer Tribe, and are perceived as the most promising tribe members who will be able to reach the Martial Sage Realm. Their status is considered to be far more respectable than that of the ordinary elders.

That being said, there was less than a year left until the selection of the young priest.

The selection process always required a grand meeting of the Sorcerer Tribe. This was due to the fact that, since this selected individual would receive personal guidance from Sorcerer Priests of the Martial Sage Realm and become a core elder, he must truly be the most eligible and worthy of candidates.

After all, this was a chance for instant success!

For ordinary Sorcerer Tribesmen, if one of them were to be selected, it would change their entire destiny and allow them to reach unimaginable heights.

The most powerful Martial subject of the Sorcerer Tribe was the secret transmission of witchcraft, which was both extremely powerful and taboo. The only way to learn and practice it was to be the lucky, selected priest.

Accordingly, every time a young priest is selected, the Sorcerer Tribe holds a grand meeting beforehand.

"A young priest!" Su Mo muttered to himself. If he was selected for the special training and became a young priest, maybe then he could get close to the High Priest and rescue Hong Qing Xuan.

However, he knew that it was not easy to become a young priest.

He would have to become a truly exceptional sorcerer and defeat all his competitors in the selection process.

This had nothing to do with his level of cultivation; it all boiled down to talent.

If he were to use his own physical body, he would be much more confident in his abilities. This current one, Wu Chen's body, was much too weak.

He had to think about this carefully.

After coming to this great decision, Su Mo discovered an empty Cultivation Room and walked in.

There was not much space inside, it was only about 50 feet wide, but it was good enough for cultivation.

A complex pattern of lines and grooves was engraved in the middle of the room, which was intended to hold Spiritual Crystals.

Su Mo closed the door and sat cross-legged in the middle of the design.

Now, he was no longer in a hurry to find Wu Tianyu. He was determined to prepare for the next Young Priest selection.

Still, Su Mo remained alert for Wu Tianyu's presence. Although one was unable to sense the situation within a Cultivation Room from the outside, those on the inside could perceive what was going on the outside. Thus, if Wu Tianyu were to appear, Su Mo would be able to detect him.

Su Mo allotted a fraction of his attention to focus on the outside world. He was also in no hurry to cultivate. After muttering to himself for a while, he used his thoughts to call out for Flaming Devil Ghost Sage. "Senior Ghost Sage," he shouted mentally.

"What is it?" Flaming Devil Ghost Sage replied softly.

"Senior Ghost Sage, do you have any way of increasing my strength within a year?" Su Mo asked quietly.

"Increase your strength?"

Flaming Devil Ghost Sage responded curiously, then fell silent for a moment. "You can just kill people and devour their souls, why do you need my help?" he continued.

"Well … I am not trying to increase my cultivation, but rather how do I increase my fighting strength?" Su Mo explained.

If he wanted to rise above the rest in the young priest selection, it would be futile to seek to raise his cultivation. Regardless of how high his level might become, there would always be someone who had a higher cultivation.

It was only through reaching the same fighting rank as others, perhaps to the point of invincibility, that he would have the chance of becoming a young priest.

"Increase your fighting strength? How much do you want to increase it?" asked Flaming Devil Ghost Sage.

"By a few dozen times, at least!" cried Su Mo.

Flaming Devil Ghost Sage found this so hard to believe, he nearly choked on his response. Increase by a few dozen times? A warrior of the Martial Emperor Realm wanted to become a dozen times stronger in less than a year?

He must be dreaming!

"I can't do that!" Flaming Devil Ghost sage said roughly.

"Then… What about seven or so times, can you at least do that?" Su Mo asked again.

"I can try!" grumbled Flaming Devil Ghost Sage.

Su Mo, elated by this news, replied hurriedly, "Then tell me!"

"A span of one year is not too long, but it is not too short either. I'll share with you the sacred martial arts skill, "Heaven Combining Ghost Skill". With your power of understanding, you should be able to increase your fighting power by about seven or eight times within the year!" Flaming Devil Ghost Sage said wisely.

"Heaven Combining Ghost Skill?" Su Mo's eyes lit up at the sound of a new skill, his excitement clearly showing. Flaming Devil Ghost Sage was actually giving him a sacred, high-level, martial arts skill!

"Yes, it is a secret of the Devil Tribe. There are not many other Martial Skills that are able to function in Ancient Spirit Galaxy!" Flaming Devil Ghost Sage confirmed, nodding his head.

"Ok, please give it to me, Senior Ghost Sage!" Su Mo implored..

Suddenly, a majestic message burst forth from the Flaming Devil Ghost Sage's mind and poured directly into Su Mo's mind.

This knowledge contained the method of the Heaven Combining Ghost Skill. It was profound and mysterious, as well as difficult to understand.

Su Mo was extremely delighted. A sacred martial arts skill, he thought excitedly. However, it seemed to be far more more powerful than his current body's cultivation skill.

He was upset at the fact and sighed inwardly. To use such a strong skill on the improvement of this physical body was a terrible waste.

Even if this physical body were superior in every way, ultimately, it was not his own. He would still abandon it for his true body in the future.

But, faced with the situation at hand, he could only do what was necessary for this body.

Returning to the moment, Su Mo considered what had just happened. Flaming Devil Ghost Sage had actually given him an immensely strong skill for nothing in return. Was he truly that kind? Su Mo found it hard to believe.

However, at the moment, he had no other choice but to use the skill and cultivate his strength.

"Su Mo, let me explain this skill in detail to you!" said Flaming Devil Ghost Sage.

"Thank you, Senior Ghost Sage." Su Mo said solemnly.

"First, you must be mentally prepared to cultivate the Heaven Combining Ghost Skill. Understand that this is a taboo skill of the Devil Clan. It is strong and glorious beyond compare, but you must endure great pain to cultivate it. If you make a mistake, you will be taken over by the devil and his powers will consume you. First, you will lose every essence of your being and be reduced to a bloodthirsty, murderous demon. Then, depending on the severity, your body may explode and die," warned Flaming Devil Ghost Sage.

Su Mo's eyes bulged from his head. If Flaming Devil Ghost Sage were to deliberately give him a dangerous skill that was destined to fail, it would surely mean his death.

However, he quickly abandoned these concerns. If Flaming Devil Ghost Sage truly wanted to harm Su Mo, the former would not have given him any warning.

Moreover, once he successfully completed the cultivation of his new skill, Su Mo would be strong enough to eliminate Flaming Devil Ghost Sage. The sage had made this quite clear.

In short, Su Mo was in a difficult situation. He could only take it one step at a time.