Surging: Part 1

"I am determined and steadfast with an unyielding spirit." Lin Sheng paused as he felt something burning in his body. He then continued, "My heart is my eyes, by which I can see the light. And my light can illuminate the soul! My heart is my living soul, and it is holy. When I am fearless, light will shine on everything."

A bright white light suddenly lit up before his eyes. Strangely, the white light did not illuminate the ground in the surrounding as if it only appeared on Lin Sheng's retinas. It floated there for a while before slowly faded away. However, Lin Sheng could still feel a warmth beating in his body after the light was gone. In another place deep inside the castle, though, another warmth was resonating with the one in him.

"Is it just a preamble?" Lin Sheng would be living in vain he still did not know what it was; this proverb was an activation key that triggered the power in the book. And judging from the feel of it, this power existed in two places in the castle. One was in the book before him, and the other was deep inside the castle.

"Interesting." He tucked the book into the pocket of his workout wear, carried the black sword, and strode in the direction from where the resonance came. He was out of the hall into a dark stone corridor, where grayish-white tapestries hung on both sides. These rectangular tapestries were mostly made of animal fur, inlaid with gold or silver, and once used to keep warm.

He could see the different images and patterns woven on the tapestries as he walked past them. He padded as quiet as possible up the corridor, which spiraled upward with beautiful moire tiles on the ground. 

After about five minutes of walking, a grayish-yellow wooden door finally appeared on the right. Thick and delicately made, the oval-shaped door was embedded in the wall, very much like that of the cabin on a ship. Lin Sheng slowly came up to it, reached for the ring-shaped door handle, and gave it a gentle push. It did not move. So, he pulled it, and it creaked open.

Inside was a round, yellow room, which was empty except for two white shields of swords-crossing pattern hanging on each side. A figure, wearing a full set of white armor and a horned helmet, was squatting on the carpet motionless with his back facing Lin Sheng. At two meters tall and with two-meter-wide shoulders, the figured looked like a tank. Lin Sheng held his breath, fearing that he might waken this thing. Nevertheless, he noticed that the armor that the figure wore was at least one phalanx of a finger thick. At this thickness, the armor was at least several hundred kilograms in weight, he figured out from the fragmented memories. Not wanting to mess with this thing, he slowly closed the oval door back, and it shut with a soft click. Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, stepped back, and continued to tramp up the corridor.

A loud bang was heard behind him as a giant white shadow had broken through the wooden door, charging at him with a white gold giant shield. Standing at three meters tall, the white warrior looked like a tank, almost shrouding Lin Sheng in his shadow. Sensing the threat, Lin Sheng rolled forward instinctively.

A loud boom ensued as an impact shattered the stone floor of the castle, sending broken stones flying out in all directions and hitting him like bullets. A half-meter pit appeared behind Lin Sheng. With no time to think, he reacted with a back-thrust, aiming straight at the gap at the neck of the white-armor figure.

The white-armor figure parried by knocking and shattering Lin Sheng's sword, instantly sending shrapnel of the blade flying. The powerful force flung Lin Sheng up into the corridor wall with blood spurting out of his mouth. He got up and ran as quick as he could, but the white-armor figure was no slough despite the heavy armor. There simply was no match between them as the strength difference between them was too big.

Ignoring the excruciating pain, Lin Sheng scrambled up the corridor. His defense-enhancing Ashen Seal had protected him from the impact, sparing him from suffering severe injury. Even so, the minor injuries felt terrible.

Lin Sheng ran as fast as he could, but the white-armor figure was just as quick as it chased from behind. With the white golden shield in one hand and the white heavyweight spear in the other, it looked like the white-armor figure was taking no prisoners. Even the solid stonewall of the castle broke off like soft tofu under the weight of the white-armor figure.

He quickly reached the end of the winding corridor, where an all-metal, black staircase would lead him to the partly open black arch door upstairs. Climbing up the stairs on all fours, Lin Sheng reached the door and quickly pulled it open. As soon as he lunged into the black door, a loud crash was heard behind him. The door and the entire doorframe gave way and were violently flung out and down the castle.

By now, Lin Sheng only realized that behind the black door, it was a rooftop platform on the side of the castle. The platform was not level, however. It was constructed at a 45 degree angled slope with a chimney in the front and an iron rail guard all around.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. As soon as Lin Sheng dodged aside, the white-armor figure missed its target and lunged past him. Just when the white-armor figure managed to stabilize itself, blue veins appeared on Lin Sheng's skin and wrinkles on his forehead, Lin Sheng had blue veins appearing on his skin and wrinkles on his forehead as he lunged forward and violently rammed the white-armored figure from behind in a Flaming Sacred Blood move. The three-meter-tall white-armor figure lost its balance, tumbled and rolled down the sloping platform, damaging the surface with cracks and holes with its immense weight.

The white-armor figure tried to grab the rail guard, but the frozen surface was too slippery and unable to sustain its body weight. It eventually fell off the platform onto the snow down below. With still some signs of life initially, the white-armor figure then quickly became motionless.

Lin Sheng stood on the rooftop and looked down. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no more movement from the white-armor figure. A black thread suddenly rose from below and flew up to him before entering his chest. Face pale and shocked, he pressed his hand on his chest. This was the first time it felt so terribly painful while absorbing the fragmented memories. It was as if a steel needle was repeatedly piercing through his heart, and this feeling went on for about ten seconds.

As the absorbed memories turned into information in his head, Lin Sheng began to see the real identity and power of the white-armor figure.