Pursuit of the Truth

In fact, before Su Ming even managed to take a few steps forward, the Poison Corpse behind him let out a low roar, still swathed in his emotions of not wanting to leave the place. There was no longer any sort of murderous intent in his roar, but he was instead sending out another message.

Su Ming turned his head and cast the Poison Corpse a glance, then nodded.

Immediately, the Poison Corpse’s spirits were lifted, and he turned around to immediately charge towards the swamp below him. When he sank entirely into it, Su Ming stood in midair and started waiting without any form of anxiety.

After about the time taken for half an incense stick to burn, the green fog that surrounded the swamp started churning as if some sort of suction force had appeared within the swamp, and was all absorbed into the swamp. After some time, a vortex appeared within the swamp, and it spun faster with each passing moment. Eventually, the Poison Corpse charged out from the vortex!

Su Ming’s pupils shrank. He could clearly see a curved knife in the Poison Corpse’s hand. That knife was green and was glowing brightly. He could not tell what material was used to make it.

There was also an archaic air coming from it. Clearly, that knife had been around for a very long time!

When Su Ming remembered just how long the World of Nine Yin had been around, he knew that this knife was definitely an ancient treasure, he just did not know how the Poison Corpse had managed to get his hands on it. But now that he thought about it, this knife must have been the cause for the change in the Poison Corpse’s poison fog!

As if the Poison Corpse was worried that Su Ming would take away his knife, the moment he flew out with the knife, he immediately stabbed his own chest with it. Su Ming saw the knife melting when it entered the Poison Corpse’s body, then watched as it seeped into him and disappeared.

Pain appeared on the Poison Corpse’s face. After struggling for a moment, he managed to bear through it by sheer willpower. The injuries on his body also recovered in an instant. In fact, his eyes were sparkling even brighter than before. He was in a much better form than he was previously.

Questions rose in Su Ming’s mind when he saw the Poison Corpse in this state. If the knife had such effects, then why did the Poison Corpse not bring it out previously..?

The Poison Corpse might already possess intelligence, but he could only express simple emotions, such as happiness, anger, sadness, and joy. He could not communicate with Su Ming. There was no way for Su Ming to obtain an answer to his questions, so he kept a mental note in his head and began to observe the Poison Corpse in secret while maintaining his guard.

However, this was not the time for him to delve too deeply into it. Once he was certain that his brand on the Poison Corpse had become much more secure and he could control the Poison Corpse without problems, he averted his gaze. He looked in the direction of where the Spirits of Nine Yin were, and charged towards that place.

The Poison Corpse turned into a ray of green light and followed closely behind him.

‘It’s a pity that I still can’t find the puppet that was formed from Ji Yun Hai’s body even with my divine sense covering the area, or else my battle prowess would reach its peak!’

Rain continued pouring from the sky and covered a large area in the World of Nine Yin.

When dusk arrived, a dense forest region took form before Su Ming as he continued charging forward. Vaguely, he could see several tall mountains located deep in the forest. There were also many palaces that surrounded the mountains. In fact, Su Ming could even see numerous statues standing stock-still outside those palaces.

It was as if everything in this place was in deep slumber. The entire forest was dead silent. Not a single sound could be heard coming from within. However, when Su Ming used his divine sense and covered the area, he could feel the crimson dragon weakly crying out in pain!

This was the place where the Spirits of Nine Yin resided. It was also the spot where the ripples from his crimson dragon were coming from!

Su Ming swept his gaze across the area, and eventually, he focused his attention on one of the towering mountains. At the top of that mountain was a palace, and that palace was in the picture that had appeared briefly in his mind.

Su Ming did not stop moving. With his gaze fixed on the palace in the mountain, he charged towards that place, his body shining with a brilliant golden light.

Almost the instant Su Ming got closer, the stone of the unmoving statues standing outside the palaces at the foot of the mountain before him started to look as if they were melting. These statues recovered one by one, and waves upon waves of powerful presences spread out, causing the rain falling from the sky to momentarily freeze. The raindrops then floated away, unable to fall straight down. The clouds in the sky also started to become obscure, as if they were covered by those presences, and the clouds started to give off a feeling as if they were distorting.

”This is the territory of the Spirits of Nine Yin. All trespassers will be killed!” A bone-chilling voice reverberated through the air, and a strong murderous intent could be felt within it. It was as if it contained some form of law that could make all those who heard it feel their hearts lurch in their chests.

Rumbling sounds echoed within Su Ming’s body while the piercing golden light shone about him. This was the first time he executed the full extent of his abilities ever since he came out of the Undying and Imperishable World. Even when he killed that Golden Thread Sacred Bat, he had still not used his full power. Yet now, as golden light shone from his whole body and the rumbling sounded, even his hair seemed to have turned gold.

The mark of Dark Mountain appeared on Su Ming’s face, and his Nascent Divinity spread out behind him to turn into a gigantic shadow. That shadow looked similar to him, but was several thousands of feet tall. Once he manifested, he formed a seal with one hand, and then with an aloof gaze, walked after Su Ming.

This was the true form of his Nascent Divinity after Soul Formation. It was a pity that Ji Yun Hai was not here, or else Su Ming would be able to call forth even greater strength from his current power of cultivation when he practiced the cultivation methods of Immortals. However, even if his Nascent Divinity appeared only in this state in the world, he could still bring forth a great portion of his power!

The Poison Corpse was at the very end. A fierce light shone in his eyes, and as he breathed, the black and green fog surrounded his body, and as it did so, it made him look like an evil spirit.

Su Ming charged forward. There were eight palaces between this place and that palace at the top of the mountain. Each of these palaces had numerous stone statues stationed outside, and right at that moment, the stone statues of the first palace, which was located at the outermost layer of the forest, had all woken up!

There was also an invisible seal placed over there, causing him to be unable to warp. It was as if space itself was being squeezed together by the seal until there was not a single gap left. If he warped forcefully, there was a huge possibility that he would immediately reappear not too far away with his flesh and blood breaking down.

There was an aloof expression on Su Ming’s face while a resolute glint appeared in his eyes. As he charged forward, he arrived in the blink of an eye at the first palace that blocked his path. The moment he closed in, the numerous stone statues outside the first palace had already woken up, and they were all looking at Su Ming coldly. Almost the instant he arrived, low roars rose into the sky.

Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. The instant these Spirits of Nine Yin closed in on him, a large amount of lightning arcs immediately appeared on his body. At the same time, lightning emerged in large quantities in the rain falling down from the sky. When Su Ming lifted his right hand and swung it before himself, endless bolts of lightning came crashing downwards.

From the distance, it looked as if a rain of lightning was falling on the first palace. Countless crashes of thunder roared in the air, and the land was instantaneously lit up despite it being dusk!

Su Ming had called forth all these bolts of lightning with his Lightning Crystal of Inheritance. Lightning covered the area, causing the incoming Spirits of Nine Yin to momentarily freeze, and right at the moment they froze, Su Ming had already arrived at the main door to the first palace. Just as he was about to step in, a roar came from within the palace, and soon after, a figure that was around a hundred feet tall charged out from inside.

Before the figure even closed in, a powerful pressure forced itself down on Su Ming’s heart and soul, but he did not stop for even a single moment. He clenched his right fist, then hurled it straight towards the incoming gigantic figure.

That gigantic figure also hurled his fist towards Su Ming. Their fists crashed into each other in an instant. One of them stood within the hall, and the other outside the hall. Right in the middle was the palace door.

One of them was around a hundred feet tall, and the other looked rather tiny in comparison!

One of them was ferocious, and the other was indifferent!

Time seemed to have frozen up during that instant. As lightning flashed through the sky, it illuminated everything. At the moment their fists clashed, the armor decked Spirit of Nine Yin in the palace shuddered violently and his armor shattered into pieces with a bang, revealing his face, which looked like dried wood. He even coughed out a huge mouthful of blood and staggered a few steps back!

Su Ming did not even take a single step backwards. With one single move, he leaped through the first palace and charged towards the second palace.

”Who are you?!” The shocked filled voice of the spirit from the first palace chased after Su Ming. The strength of their physical bodies had always been the pride of Spirits of Nine Yin. Even if their levels of cultivation did not differ too greatly from their opponents, they could still use the might of their bodies to suppress their enemies!

Yet what happened just now had filled the spirit’s heart with a level of shock that could not be described with words. He could clearly feel that this person had not used any sort of divine ability and had just used his physical strength, just like him. And in such a situation, he had practically lost completely!

”I am Su Ming! And I came here to take back the spirit you Spirits of Nine Yin took with you!”

The instant Su Ming stepped into the second palace, the stone on the statues outside the second palace started melting. All of them had dark expressions on their faces, and without saying a single word, they charged towards him.

This time, Su Ming did not attack. His Poison Corpse did. That Corpse rushed out with a roar, and the black and green poison fog spread out rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire area. Su Ming knew that if he wanted to save the Crimson Dragon, he had to be fast!

He had to use the fastest speed he could muster and charge towards the place where the crimson dragon was sealed!

Without stopping, he arrived before the door to the second palace. At the instant he stepped in, a huge spirit walked out of the second palace. He held a long spear in his hand, and the moment he walked out, he sent that spear charging straight towards Su Ming’s face. It brought with it a piercing sound as it sliced through the air, and it was so loud that the sound was deafening.

It was as if he had prepared this attack since a long time ago and chosen to unleash it right at that moment!

The spear was just about to touch Su Ming when he lifted his right hand, and immediately, Han Mountain Bell appeared in it, as if his fist had turned into the bell itself. The bell crashed into the long spear in an instant, and a loud chime that shook the skies rang through the world.

The body of the spirit with the long spear lurched forward, and the long spear in his hands started shattering inch by inch. He fell several steps backwards and blood trickled out of the corners of his mouth. Without a hint of hesitation, Su Ming went past the palace and charged towards the third palace.

Yet the instant he stepped into the third palace, not only did all the statues outside the palace wake up, even the guardian in the palace had walked out with a long spear in his hand. When the spirit lifted the spear, all the Spirits of Nine Yin around lifted their spears and tossed them at the same time. Sharp, piercing whistles charged towards Su Ming.

Su Ming still looked as calm as ever. In the face of all the long spears charging towards him, he lifted his left hand and pressed at the air before him gently.

”My left hand symbolizes time that has passed… as if your bodies are all searching for the signs of time… move back…” Su Ming muttered softly.

The instant those words left his lips, he pushed against the air, and the numerous long spears that were charging towards him no longer moved forward, but backwards! At the same time, before the Spirits of Nine Yin even managed to take a step forward, they started moving as if their actions were flowing in reverse, and all of them took a step backwards!

The shock of when they took that step backwards was enough to strike anyone who witnessed this scene dumb with amazement!

Then, like a bolt of lightning, Su Ming leaped over the third palace and headed towards the fourth palace!

For some strange reason, the Spirits of Nine Yin in the fourth palace had not woken up. Only a powerful spirit of three hundred something feet tall stood outside the palace, looking at Su Ming with a complicated gaze!

”Are you going to stop me as well?” Su Ming asked calmly.