Pursuit of the Truth

As the power of the divine sense swept outwards, a pressure that seemed like a gust of wind that could cause people to suffocate rose within the quiet forest and crashed into the old man in an instant. It caused the trees before the old Patriarch to shatter and explode into pieces. The leaves dancing in the air seemed to have turned into sharp blades that were flying in-between the sky and earth.

The mud on the ground also let out loud cracking sounds as if there was lightning hidden underneath. As it erupted, the mud flew into the sky and a rotten stench spread all over the place.

The sky was dark. The forest itself was originally dark, but when that divine sense suddenly struck, the trees in the area, including the leaves and everything else, were blasted into smithereens. They flew all over the place and allowed moonlight to descend upon the ground unhindered, though the light was still scattered by the shards from the trees and leaves.

The scattered moonlight made it seem as if the moon itself was killed!

The old Patriarch was stunned but quickly regained his wits. Yet since at the critical moment he was taken aback by the sudden loss of Su Ming’s presence, it made him lose the initiative!

The invisible divine sense came charging and crashed onto the old man with a bang. He did not feel pain, but at that instant, his mind was thrown into disarray and chaos, and he let out a grunt as his eyes, ears, nose and mouth bled.

This attack with his divine sense was the strongest attack Su Ming could muster after he obtained the ways to train his divine sense, and to top it off, he had even used the golden stone coin Tian Lan Meng had given him.

The spiritual power contained within the golden hue of that stone had even tempted Su Ming when he first saw it.

This stone coin was definitely not a common object. When Su Ming held it in his hands, he used the power stored within without any hesitation to strengthen the power of his divine sense up to a level that was similar to the feeling as if his divine sense was about to experience a transformation.

He was in a life threatening situation and the disparity between his power and the old man’s was great. If Su Ming wanted to live, then he had to do whatever he could to arrive at the strongest state he could possibly be.

As he attacked, Su Ming’s calmness reached a state he had never encountered before. He could remembered that he was still by his Master’s side two days ago, and three days ago, he was still in the ninth summit.

Yet now, he was outside Sky Mist Barrier, in the land of the Shamans. In this forest that housed a Shaman Tribe, he had killed dozens of Shamans, and he was now fighting against the strongest Shaman of that tribe!

When Su Ming’s divine sense crashed into the old Shaman, the old man was pushed backwards and his mind roared in his head. His vision had also become clouded, and fear rose within his heart. As that fear appeared, an ancient legend that was buried deep within his heart surfaced along with deeply rooted shock and disbelief.

”This… This is…”

The old man’s pupils shrank. As he moved back, his thoughts were interrupted by a piercing sword aura. It was a sword flashing with green light, and it had fused together with that divine sense as it sliced through the air, closing in on him in a green arc.

The sword was so sharp that as it passed through the air, the shards that were dancing in the air were blown into smithereens and a tunnel was ripped through the air. All the shards that once existed in the tunnel had turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.

When that sword and that green light closed in on the center of the old Shaman’s brows and were about to pierce through his forehead, the old man’s originally normal looking pupils turned into four as if they had been divided as he continued retreating quickly!

”Stop!”

The old Shaman let out a loud bark, and as he shouted, veins started popping out densely at the corners of his eyes, spreading all over his face, turning into a complex looking Tattoo!

The small virescent sword immediately came to a halt and let out a piercing screech as if it was rubbing against something, but it could not move forward!

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He was sitting on the red meadow that concealed his presence and his body as he watched the old man fight against the small virescent sword.

This was the first time Su Ming saw someone using such a strange method to force that sword to stop as he stood right before it after he was attacked by the divine sense.

This was not any form of resistance. This was a power that was similar to his divine sense. Su Ming’s mind trembled. He could clearly feel the divine sense gathered on the small virescent sword being attacked by a dark and chilling presence. That presence was filled with cruelty and malice, causing the divine sense Su Ming placed on the small sword to be destroyed.

At that moment, Su Ming felt as if he heard harsh panting from that chilling presence, though he was not sure whether it was just a figment of his imagination.

Those pants were very odd. They sounded as if they were mixed with chewing sounds.

Yet since Su Ming decided to act, then he would definitely not stop with just his divine sense and the small virescent sword. Almost at the instant the small sword was forced to stop and Su Ming’s mind trembled, the calm killing glint in his eyes flickered and he lifted his right hand—Spirit Plunder instantly rushed out.

Once Spirit Plunder charged out, it was followed by bolts of lightning that appeared out of thin air. As they rumbled in the sky, the dark forest was filled with blinding light.

With a flash, those bolts of lightning charged towards the old Shaman.

At the same time, Su Ming bent his body like a drawn out bow and stared intently at the old man not too far away from him. His right hand was still tightly clenched.

With his face covered in veins, the old man lifted his head swiftly. He no longer looked at the trembling small sword but turned his gaze, his terrifying eyes that contained four pupils, towards the incoming bolts of lightning and Spirit Plunder.

The moment he looked over, Su Ming’s body trembled. Once again, he felt the same cold and malicious presence he had sensed previously on his virescent sword coming from the Origin Lightning within his body.

Under that presence, he felt as if all his lightning was gathered together, and Su Ming heard that strange panting sound accompanied by chewing noises once again.

At that moment in the forest, thunder stopped rumbling, and bolts of lightning could be clearly seen frozen in midair before the old man, unable to move.

There was a vicious look on the old man’s face as the four pupils in his eyes shone with an enchanting and alluring glow. Yet at that moment, something that could not be forced to stop shot out suddenly from among the frozen lightning, it broke through the bolts of lightning and charged towards the old man.

That old Shaman turned his gaze towards it, but the moment he saw it, the disbelief and shock that appeared when he saw Su Ming’s divine sense just recently surfaced once again in his eyes.

”Soul Catcher Pearl!”

The moment these two words slipped out of the old Shaman’s lips in shock, Spirit Plunder suddenly shone with a black light and floated in midair. As that light spread out, it caused the medicinal pill to turn into a vacuum in air. A surge of power that seemed to absorb the souls of humans itself spread out swiftly and surrounded the entire area, causing the old Shaman to feel as if he was being absorbed into the pill when he turned his four pupil eyes towards it. He could not move his head, neither could he move his eyes.

”Divine sense… Soul Catcher Pearl… This… This is… You’re not a Berserker. Who are you? Why do you have the skills of the other world’s Immortals and my people’s supreme and sacred Core..?

”And that slash of yours, it was built based on the structure of the Totem’s power which we Shamans worship!”

The old man struggled, trying to tear his gaze away from Spirit Plunder. As he roared, Spirit Plunder trembled viciously, and a murky hue appeared within its black light. Gradually, besides the sealed thread of Si Ma Xin’s Berserker Spirit contained within, an eye also appeared inside the medicinal pill, and two pupils within that eye.

However, the old Shaman was not any ordinary Shaman. As he struggled madly, thin cracks immediately started appearing on Su Ming’s Spirit Plunder. A barely noticeable glint shone within the old man’s eyes and a secret thought bloomed in his head as he continued struggling.

All of these things happened in an instant. Almost at the moment the old man’s eyes were to be absorbed into Spirit Plunder and he looked as if he could not move away, Su Ming’s bent body, which was curved as if he was a drawn out bow, shot out silently and abruptly like an arrow from where he was hidden within the red meadow!

The charging Su Ming was entirely surrounded by black fog, which turned into his Divine General Armor. Lightning swam through his entire body and weaved around in and out of the black fog, making him appear to be filled with an indescribable might.

His speed as he rushed out was so quick it seemed as if he had suddenly appeared out of thin air. With one step in the air, a loud bang rang through the area, causing the air to tremble. As the space distorted, a layer of ripples formed between the sky and earth and started spreading out under Su Ming’s feet.

His second step was taken right after he took his first, and his body bounded right into the air. Once he left the ground, he immediately crossed over 1,000 feet in distance before he fell from the air, and the direction to which he fell was where the old Shaman was!

Su Ming lifted his right hand and a long sword made of ice appeared in his hand.

That sword was naturally Freezing Sky Sword! That sword exuded a chilling air when Su Ming held it in his right hand. That chill covered Su Ming’s entire right hand and fused it together with the sword. At that moment, with the chilling freeze wrapped around the sword, Freezing Sky Sword’s shape suddenly changed.

The sword suddenly became larger by one fold and looked like it was not a sword that could be lifted with just one hand but was instead a two-handed sword!

Su Ming’s left hand gripped the sword as he dove down towards the old Shaman, and instantly, his left hand was covered in a layer of freezing ice. Once he held the sword with both hands, ice spread through his entire body at an indescribable speed and he was instantly covered in ice. His Divine General Armor gained an additional layer of armor, one that used the Armor itself to build its shape and used ice to give it physical form, turning his Armor into the Divine General Ice Armor!

Su Ming fell with a bang. He held the sword with both hands and charged towards the old Shaman with an air around him that screamed of wanting to cut him down. At that moment, crystalline light began shining in Freezing Sky Sword, and when it was beside Su Ming, an illusion that looked like the manifestation of a Berserker Mark appeared.

There was a powerful looking man within that illusion. That man also held a sword in both hands, and as he leapt up, he swung his sword towards the ground fiercely.

”The sword which I create only has one Style! Cut! Cut down everything!”

Su Ming’s ears echoed with the arrogant words of the illusionary person formed by the Art, contained within this Freezing Sky Sword. All other things disappeared from his sight, and the only thing remaining was the person who was coming closer to him on the ground… the old Shaman!

With a swing of the sword, he slashed down!

Translator’s Notes:

The old Shaman was talking about Spirit Plunder, but the word he used was actually 荒丹 (huang dan), which is literally translated as Barren Core and also happened to be what I used, but later on, a few more Shamans will pop up asking why Su Ming has the 攝魂珠 (she hun zhu), which is translated as Soul Catcher Pearl. Based on their descriptions, I believe they were referring to the same thing, so Barren Core here was also changed to Soul Catcher Pearl.