Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled and his face was filled with caution. Once he took a few steps forward, he suddenly saw a white shadow flashing past in the fog in the distance.

That white shadow traveled incredibly quickly and disappeared without a trace in an instant. It only left behind the fog rolling about in the area, and not a single sound traveled forth.

Su Ming came to a stop. He was not the only one who saw that white shadow, Lan Lan and Ahu had also seen it. The two of them immediately became even more anxious. They did not dare be too far apart from each other and followed behind Su Ming closely.

”Senior… what… what is that?” Lan Lan asked in a whisper.

”I think that’s a woman…” Ahu clenched his fist and kept his gaze fixed at the spot where the white shadow had appeared.

A glint flashed through Su Ming’s eyes. He lifted his right hand swiftly and swung his arm before him. Immediately, there was a muffled low growl. Then, the three hundred something feet Spirit of Nine Yin appeared before Su Ming.

Once the spirit came into being, he seized at the air with his right hand, and red light flashed instantly out of nowhere to gather into a red battle axe.

That battle axe looked exactly the same as the battle axe that had shattered when he fought against the Grand Elder of the God of Shamans Temple.

With that battle axe in hand, he turned around and cast Su Ming a glance.

”Your duty is to protect these two children,” Su Ming said slowly.

The man nodded. Once he swept his gaze past Lan Lan and Ahu, he surveyed his surroundings.

The group continued moving forward towards the center of the fog. There, at the center, would be the carcass of the Candle Dragon.

Once they were there, Lan Lan and Ahu could approach that skeleton and sense its remaining will. If they were acknowledged, then they would have completed their test.

Su Ming had come to understand from Nan Gong Hen that the test was not actually very difficult. In fact, they were not the first batch of people to be there. Every single time the World of Nine Yin was opened, a large number of people with the constitutions of Soul Catchers would come here.

There were no dangers lurking in the fog. In truth, the biggest threat in this test lay in the journey and their companions. However, Su Ming had arrived to this place early, at a time when other people were still participating in the treasure gambling event in Shaman City. There should not be too many dangers in this place.

However, the strangeness in the forest a month ago and the many dangers he ran into after that had shown that the World of Nine Yin now was different compared to the past.

Life threatening crises had appeared in originally safe places. If that was the case, then there was no guarantee that this place would not suffer the same fate.

About two hours since Su Ming and the group had moved into the fog, the white shadow that had appeared before suddenly flashed before them once again, and just like before, it disappeared into the distance in an instant.

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He did not give chase.

However, Lan Lan and Ahu became even more scared. The two of them held hands, and they could feel the cold sweat on the other’s palm.

At that moment, green light suddenly shone at the center of Su Ming’s brows. The small virescent sword manifested instantly and charged behind Lan Lan and Ahu, slashing downwards.

When it cut down, the fog behind the boy and girl suddenly tumbled about, and a beast claw made of fog stretched out to crash into the small virescent sword. As a muffled boom echoed in the air and the beast claw was cut apart by the sword, it turned back into fog.

The Spirit of Nine Yin laughed savagely and threw his battle axe away. That battle axe turned into a long red arc and instantly charged into the fog, and a shrill cry of pain traveled forth, but it soon disappeared in the distance.

That scene happened too quickly, so quickly that Lan Lan and Ahu did not even have time to react to it.

Su Ming’s expression was dark as he walked in the fog. He first looked into the distance, and then cast his gaze at the ground. With a swing of his arm, a small area of fog was instantly swept away to reveal a mass of flesh about the size of a palm on the black ground. A rotten stench spread out, and it was enough to make everyone nauseous.

Su Ming stared at that mass of flesh and frowned.

Suddenly, he heard that ancient voice from the fog once again. This time, that voice was much clearer, and it sounded as if it was coming from a spot much closer than before.

”The left eye of the descendants of the Candle Dragon are the day, and their right eye is the sun. When they close their eyes, the sky will turn dark, and when they open their eyes, the sky will turn bright…”

As that voice spoke, the whines from the strange snake in Han Mountain Bell grew even stronger, but Su Ming stayed silent.

”Let’s go.” He turned around and ignored the mass of flesh on the ground, bringing Lan Lan and Ahu further in the fog with the Spirit of Nine Yin behind them.

Time gradually passed by. As they continued onward, they ran into attacks just like the one before several times. Fortunately for them, the Spirit of Nine Yin was around. With his strength, he prevented the creatures hiding in the fog from killing them.

Su Ming could not tell whether it was still day or night outside, but judging by the fact that they had been traveling for several hours, it should be night time outside.

Su Ming was walking forward with Lan Lan and Ahu, and slowly, a gigantic dark shadow appeared in the fog before him. That shadow looked like it was ten thousand feet tall, and it remained hidden in the fog, still and unmoving. At first glance, it looked like a building, and an indescribable feeling spread through the entire area.

That feeling could make a person feel depressed. Su Ming looked at the shadow, and right at the instant he focused his gaze at the thing, Lan Lan suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

When she cried out, Su Ming immediately turned around and looked over. He could not spread his divine sense too far, only a few dozens of feet away, which was why he could detect the attacks from the beasts in the fog, but if he wanted to look further ahead, he would have to rely on his eyes.

At that moment, he cast his gaze in the direction where Lan Lan was looking in fear, and straight away, he saw a faint figure in white about one hundred something feet behind them, hidden in the fog where they had just passed through. That figure seemed to be sitting on a rock with the back turned towards them as it cried silently.

Sobbing sounds echoed in the quiet fog.

At the moment those sobs traveled forth, Lan Lan’s eyes grew glazed. Ahu was in the same situation, looking as if he had lost his soul.

Su Ming’s expression turned even darker. Just as he was about to take action, the sobbing sounds suddenly increased in number, and the additional crying voice came from Su Ming’s right side.

When he looked over, he immediately saw another white figure crying several hundreds of feet away to his right. That thing had its back turned towards him, and he could only see its long hair.

Those sobbing sounds only served to make Su Ming annoyed. He let out a cold harrumph and took a step forward, charging straight at the white figure to his right. As for the Spirit of Nine Yin, he immediately stomped on the ground after Su Ming sent a single thought to him, and a screen of light swiftly appeared around Lan Lan and Ahu to protect them. Then, he took a step forward and rapidly closed in on the white figure that had appeared behind them with his battle axe in hand.

With a flash, Su Ming’s clone appeared to his left and his Poison Corpse manifested on his right. In the blink of an eye, they closed in on the white figure, and the sobbing sounds became even clearer.

However, right at the instant they got closer, the white figure suddenly turned around to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful face that would make hearts pound. Yet a sharp screech suddenly came from the woman’s mouth, and with a hum, that screech turned into a wave, and just like how a wave of sound would, it rushed towards Su Ming.

At the same time, the white-robed woman’s body abruptly swelled up and was torn apart from within, turning into a mass of black flesh and blood that charged towards Su Ming while a rotten stench spread through the air.

The instant that flesh and blood appeared, Su Ming lifted his right hand and seized at the air with his fingers. Immediately, a whirlwind gathered in his palm, drawing in the fog from all around him before he rammed his palm on that mass of flesh and blood.

Immediately after, green light shone on his clone, and the small sword grew into a big sword that sliced horizontally through that mass of flesh. The clone also started forming multiple seals, and once he formed the final seal, he jabbed at that mass of flesh.

The Poison Corpse’s actions were the most straightforward. He did not do anything except open his mouth and breathe out a puff of poisonous fog that seemed no different from the fog around them. As if it contained life, that fog turned into nine small snakes once it left the Poison Corpse’s mouth and charged out ferociously.

All of these divine abilities were executed within an instant, and they all charged towards that mass of flesh. However, right at the instant they were about to crash into each other, the mass of flesh gathered together in midair and turned into a woman’s face. That face was filled with murderous intent, and before Su Ming’s divine abilities could touch it, it started burning on its own.

It was reduced to smoke in an instant and disappeared without a trace.

Su Ming’s pupils shrank, and when he whipped his head back, he found that there was only fog behind and all around him. There was no Spirit of Nine Yin, no Lan Lan, no Ahu…

The area was not silent. Sobbing sounds echoed around him as if they had surrounded him. Those crying voices increased in number, and in the span of a few breaths, it sounded as if there were several of these women hiding in the fog.

”Petty tricks!” Su Ming let out a cold harrumph and forced down the annoyance in his heart. Once he calmed his mind, he lifted his right hand, and with a flash on his palm, a spiked club immediately appeared in his hand.

Once Su Ming held it, he immediately lifted it up. As buzzing sounds echoed in the air, the spiked club’s length swiftly increased, and in the blink of an eye, it became one hundred something feet long and several dozens of feet wide. Su Ming leaped up, and with a low roar, swung the spiked club upwards in the shape of a fan before he slammed it down on the ground.

”Move!”

When Su Ming’s spoke, the spiked club grew several times in size once again while falling downwards. The instant the club crashed into the ground, it was already nearly one thousand feet long and several dozens of feet wide. Veins had popped up on Su Ming’s arms as he held that spiked club, and the Berserker Bones in his body shone with a golden light.

The gigantic spiked club crashed into the land with a huge bang, causing the ground to tremble and the sea like fog to look as if it had been ripped apart by two hands. With the spiked club as its center, the fog rolled backwards in both sides.

In the blink of an eye, there was no longer any fog within a circular area of several thousands of feet. In the distance, Su Ming saw the Spirit of Nine Yin shuddering due to its struggles to break free. There was an eyeball of several hundreds of feet before him. The eyeball seemed to contain the power of a Soul Catcher, and its center was torn apart like a mouth. It was luring the Spirit of Nine Yin to move towards it slowly.

Behind the Spirit of Nine Yin was a screen of light that was on the verge of shattering, and there were several figures in white crying shrilly behind it as they continuously rammed their bodies against the screen. Inside were Lan Lan and Ahu, whose faces were pale with fear and despair.

As the fog continued rolling back, Su Ming saw clearly further down that area of several thousands of feet a gigantic skeleton of ten thousand feet!

That skeleton looked like the tail of a gigantic python. Most of its carcass had already decayed, and only some scales were left. When Su Ming looked over, the tail of the skeleton was so long that he could not see its end, and if the tail itself was already such a shocking scene, then the whole body might be an unimaginable sight.

”Candle Dragon…” Su Ming’s pupils shrank, and within Han Mountain Bell, the strange snake let out its strongest cry!