Pursuit of the Truth

‘But it did give me an inspiration… so divine abilities can be cast this way?’ A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He looked at the palace in this place and closed his eyes.

After some time, when he opened his eyes again, an illusion appeared in his eyes. In the illusion, he saw a palace, a gigantic moat, and that… was Great Yu Imperial City!

In that illusion was Great Yu’s main palace, and also… that Great Yu South Morus Alba Palace that had come to this world in the form of an illusion!

Almost the instant these palaces and the city appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, he took a step forward, and right at the moment his foot landed, the illusory palace before his eyes crumbled and shattered with a bang.

”How brittle is the copy compared to the fake.”

The moment the Great Yu South Morus Alba Palace shattered, Su Ming sensed something. As it collapsed and turned into pieces that sliced through the air around him, it was as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes, revealing Scour Sieve Island lying behind this illusory world, as well as Mo Luo, who was already halfway into the temple, but whose body suddenly started trembling before he coughed out a mouthful of blood!

Mo Luo was shaken to the core and his heart was filled with astonishment. He had not placed his hopes on the power of Great Yu to be able to kill this person. After all, this Art was just an illusion and an imitation from what he had seen in the clan. Still, he had been confident that it could hold this person back for some time.

Yet, the truth was before his eyes. Only three breaths had gone by since he cast this Art to the moment the illusion of Great Yu shattered!

Those three breaths felt like the world had collapsed. The yellow light in the sky faded out, and as Mo Luo coughed out a mouthful of blood, a tile fell from the darkened yellow light in the sky.

It was a crimson tile. A primal and ancient air could be sensed from it. The illusion of Great Yu had been brought up precisely because of this item. When it fell on the ground, it cracked, and looked as if it was about to break apart.

‘Impossible! The Clan Master once said that no one can leave the illusion of Great Yu within the span of a few breaths. Even when I used this against the extremely powerful warriors, they would also be trapped for at least the length of burning half an incense stick!’

Shock overwhelmed Mo Luo’s heart once again. At the moment he coughed out blood, he immediately stepped into the temple without hesitation, but before he could even manage to place his foot on the ground, the world around him instantly started distorting, and within those distortions, he saw, much to his shock, the very same sight that Bao Shan had seen previously!

He saw time flowing back, saw the world breaking into pieces before gathering up once again, saw his own feet moving backwards, and saw his body leaving the temple.

He also saw Su Ming lifting his right index finger and pointing it at his chest, just like when he did to critically injure Bao Shan. Sharp pain shot through his entire body, causing blood to trickle out of the corners of his lips. He was completely unable to resist, as if his will had been separated from his body as time flowed backwards.

When he had been moving forward just moments ago, he had not detected any sort of danger, that was why there was not any sign of struggle when he moved forward just now. Yet at this moment, as time flowed backwards, his body still maintained that non resisting posture, causing every single part of him to be exposed to destruction.

This was Destiny’s strongest aspect!

Mo Luo’s soul was almost shattered. He had clearly seen Bao Shan’s demise just moments prior, and now, he was in the same state. He could not resist, he could not dodge. It was as if he had turned into a puppet that was controlled by someone else, and time flowed forward and backwards interchangeably, he would be continuously injured until… he died!

It was especially so when he was struck by Destiny’s finger. When blood flowed out of his mouth, a huge force crashed into his body, but before he could even take a few steps backwards, the world before him immediately shattered once again, turning into pieces before gathering together once more. Everything was a cycle, a repetition, and this was enough to make any person strongly feel as if their minds were about to shatter.

”I can’t let this go on, or else I’ll definitely die! This person is definitely one of the three great Berserkers in South Morning. He gained his fame many years ago, he definitely has more tricks up his sleeve!”

When Mo Luo saw his body falling back and Su Ming walking towards him to jab him with his finger a second time, his terror reached its peak. He had fought and killed for his entire life, but he had never met such a strange divine ability. Once he linked it to Su Ming’s identity, he started falling into hysteria in the midst of his terror in this life-threatening crisis.

Almost the instant Su Ming delivered his second jab on the center of Mo Luo’s brows, the old man’s eyes immediately turned red. He might be unable to control his body from being absorbed by time, he might be unable to execute his divine abilities, but he could… make his Berserker Soul break!

Right when Su Ming’s hand touched the center of his brows, veins popped up all over Mo Luo’s body. With a bang, a power that screamed with a desire to burn everything erupted from his body. The strength of that power came from Mo Luo burning his own cultivation base, and that power would erupt with the price of his level of cultivation falling from the later stage of the Berserker Soul Realm to the middle stage.

The instant Mo Luo started burning his cultivation base, Su Ming’s finger landed on his body, and when he tumbled backwards while coughing up blood, as the world in his vision shattered and rebuilt itself, time froze for a moment, causing him to roar and charge out desperately of this cycle that brought him immense terror!

He could not even be bothered wiping off the blood on his mouth the instant he rushed out. He knew that his chance would only last for an instant. The sight of himself being buried in that never ending cycle had caused him extreme terror, and the moment he rushed out, he did not hesitate for even a moment to form a seal with both his hands and pointing it forward.

”The seven emotions of life, joy, anger, worry, desire, grief, fear, shock!”

As Mo Luo shouted and pointed towards Su Ming through the air, seven wisps of smoke immediately spread out from his fingertips. His expression started changing from twisted madness to glee, then from glee to anger, then to anxiety, before changing to longing, sorrow, fear, and shock.

These seven expressions reflected the Art of the Seven Emotions of Life. The instant they showed up on his face, the seven wisps of smoke that spread out from his fingertips turned into seven shadows made of fog in midair, charging towards Su Ming!

At that moment, due to Mo Luo burning his own cultivation base, he managed to resist the power dragging him into the cycle, causing Su Ming to be unable to use the Art of the Past to cause Mo Luo’s Art to flow in reverse. He was still calm though. Twelve breaths had gone by since he became Destiny, and his time limit was near.

‘Seven emotions…’

Su Ming remained silent. With aloofness shining in his eyes, he did not dodge, but instead walked towards Mo Luo, who was now full of openings. The moment he came closer, joy’s shadow became the first among the seven emotions to close in on him, but right after it went into his body, it slipped out, as if there was no such thing as happiness within him.

This caught Mo Luo by surprise. The next instant, anger’s shadow closed in, but once it touched Su Ming, it also slipped out of his body just like joy did before. Su Ming remained as composed as ever, and not a single change in emotion could be found on him as he moved closer still.

”This…”

Mo Luo was stunned completely silent, especially when he saw the shadows of worry, sorrow, fear, and shock seemingly not being able to see Su Ming and passing through him the instant they touched him. At that instant, Mo Luo’s terror reached its peak!

”That’s impossible. As long as you’re human, it’s impossible for you to not possess those seven emotions!” Mo Luo roared, and in his shock, he hastily retreated. However, in his panic, he did not notice that even though all seven emotions had eventually disappeared, there was one wisp of emotion that had stayed for a moment when it entered Su Ming’s body before it, too, disappeared.

That emotion was longing…

During that instant, what appeared in Su Ming’s mind was Dark Mountain, his elder, Bai Ling, the ninth summit, his Master, and the other people…

When Mo Luo saw Su Ming closing in on him and lifting his left hand, the feeling that he was immersed in an endless cycle and the false impression that the world was shattering into pieces appeared once again.

In fear, Mo Luo grit his teeth. The burning of his cultivation base in his body became even stronger, causing his level of cultivation to fall from the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm straight down to the initial stage. The power formed from the burning of his cultivation base turned into an explosive burst, causing him to take a step forward as he roared.

Just as he was about to step into the temple, a flicker of light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. His appearance began rapidly changing. His time as Destiny was near its end, but he remained calm. He no longer moved forward, but instead, as violet light shone on his entire body, he equipped the Undertaker of Evil’s Armor while he was still Destiny!

In the blink of an eye, Su Ming’s entire body was surrounded by violet light. When he lifted his right hand, a long spear manifested, causing him to bring out the Undertaker of Evil’s power as Destiny for the first time!

At that moment, Mo Luo had broken through Su Ming’s time reversal with the power created from burning his cultivation base. After paying a huge price, he finally managed to return to the temple. The instant he stepped inside, he spread his arms wide open and let out a shocking roar.

”Legacy of my ancestors, fill up your third generation disciple’s Mo Luo body, and help me reproduce our clan’s glory!”

As Mo Luo roared, the memorial tablets in the temple suddenly started shining with a piercing dark light. Within it were wisps upon wisps of soul fragments whose faces could not be seen clearly. The appearance of those souls caused the temple to instantly become colder. Then, as if a gust of freezing wind had blown through, the soul fragments’ memorial tablets started crumbling and charging towards Mo Luo, crawling madly into him through every single part of his body. The power of Mo Luo’s presence started shooting upwards.

His presence shot up from the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm to the middle stage, then reached the later stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, and still continued climbing upwards. But it did not end there. As pain appeared on Mo Luo’s face, his power climbed up once again and he screamed in pain, but he did not reach great completion, just the pinnacle of the later stage for the Berserker Soul Realm!

All of this was due to him burning his own cultivation base, or else he would have been able to obtain the power of great completion for an incredibly short period of time in the midst of the mad climb of power!

Mo Luo’s eyes were bloodshot. His body was filled with a pain that made him feel as if he was about to be torn apart, making him descend into further madness. As his level of cultivation climbed upwards, he turned around and roared towards Su Ming while charging at him.

As Destiny, Su Ming moved towards Mo Luo while dressed in the Undertaker of Evil’s Armor while holding onto the long violet spear in his right hand. An instant before his body reverted from being Destiny, he tossed that long spear out of his hand, and a bang rang through the air.

That throw was the strongest spear attack Su Ming could muster while he was Destiny and had the Undertaker of Evil’s Armor equipped. It could even be considered a spear attack that was unmatched!

If anyone really wanted to compare the power of that spear throw, then they would find that it had already surpassed the great completion of the Berserker Soul Realm, and even contained… a hint of the power of Life Cultivation!