Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming lifted his head and gave a cold stare to the vortex in the portion of the sky that had yet to be covered by the black fog. Si Ma Xin’s soft and dark voice echoed in his ears, and everything within that voice was an embodiment of the man’s enmity and hatred.

He used Zi Che to tug at Su Ming’s heartstrings, then used Bai Su to bring up his memories, and finally, he activated the threat lying within Hu Zi’s body, and all of this had to be solved within a time limit of an hour.

Clearly, Si Ma Xin enjoyed the feeling of persecuting someone else, especially when his target was Su Ming!

He wanted to make Su Ming anxious, wanted to make him angry, wanted to make him charge towards him without care for anything else. He longed to see this exciting scene, and he desired to see Su Ming appearing before him while covered in wounds. Si Ma Xin then could finally take his revenge!

He had been preparing for this day for a long time! He might have lost to Su Ming the few times they fought and plotted against each other, but his understanding towards Su Ming had also increased. At the time, after he received his serendipity and walked out of Freezing Sky Cave, he swore that he would definitely kill Su Ming!

That was why he had set up such a large scale plan in Heaven Gate and waited for Su Ming’s return while burning with hatred!

That day had finally arrived!

Su Ming remained silent, and the anger and furious roars Si Ma Xin wanted to see did not come from him. Instead, he only saw dead silence. Su Ming looked at the vortex in the sky calmly, then moved towards midair, but right at the moment he started charging towards the vortex, Zi Che, the old man in white, and the old woman recovered slightly. Then, in the midst of Zi Che’s madness, the old man’s complicated feelings, and the old woman’s gritted teeth, the three people turned into long arcs and charged towards Su Ming to fight against him together!

”Su Ming, I’ll be waiting for you in the ninth layer…”

Su Ming watched the three people rushing towards him while he stood in midair. A glint appeared in his eyes and he ignored the trio charging towards him. Instead, he threw the Undertaker’s of Evil Spear straight into the vortex in the sky.

That violet long spear let out a loud whistle as it sliced through the air. That whistle fused with Si Ma Xin’s voice, and the spear charged towards the vortex in the sky, looking like a long violet dragon from the distance.

Before Si Ma Xin managed to finish his sentence, the long spear containing Su Ming’s power crashed into the sky with a huge bang. At the instant they came into contact with each other, the vortex stopped rotating. It froze for a moment, then let out a loud sound that surged into the sky.

Rumbling sounds like those of thunder roared in the sky, completely covering up Si Ma Xin’s voice, causing the sky to begin cracking. The vortex was instantly torn to pieces, and a huge hole appeared in the sky!

Right behind that hole… was Heaven Gate’s second layer!

Almost the instant that hole appeared, the black fog that was tumbling about and spreading to every corner of the torn sky in the first layer looked as if it had found a drain. It surged towards that hole, causing another vortex to appear in the sky. The black fog and clouds surged about up ahead, making it seem as if they were coalescing inside there.

It might still be a vortex, but this time, Su Ming was the one who had created it. This vortex cut off Si Ma Xin’s voice, and was akin to a slap to his face. Su Ming might not have said anything, but he had used his actions to tell his decision!

”I’ve killed many people in my life… and today, I will kill even more. One of them, will be you.”

The world roared, and the black fog tumbled about in the vortex. Su Ming’s voice reverberated in the area calmly, fusing together with the thunderous roars and stirring up an endless string of echoes. They caused all those who heard them to be unable to tell whether it was Su Ming who was speaking or whether the world itself was howling.

Almost the moment the hole in the sky appeared, Zi Che and the other two people closed in on Su Ming. These three people each possessed the combat abilities of a Berserker in the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, and when they attacked, they stirred up an incredibly mighty presence. Zi Che turned into a layer of red fog, and wherever he passed through, a little of everything around him, including the air itself, would seem as if it was devoured, as if it started decaying.

The old man in white formed a seal with both his hands, and the air before and behind him started distorting to reveal two statues of the God of Berserkers. However, one of them was holding onto a jewel-encrusted purification vase [1].

Everything about that statue besides that vase looked like an illusion and was rather indistinct. However, the other statue looked as if it was real!

The old woman’s messy hair began growing swiftly at that moment, but they did not spread outwards as they charged towards Su Ming. Instead, as they floated into the air, they broke off in the middle and turned into an endless amount of hair strands that rushed towards Su Ming.

He remained silent and took a step towards the old woman. At that instant, his body immediately came into contact with the strands of hair, but the instant they touched him, his eyes sparkled, and bell chimes reverberated in the air. Han Mountain Bell manifested itself and surrounded him to bear the brunt of the hair’s impact. During that moment, Su Ming appeared before the old woman.

The old woman let out a piercing screech. When she started retreating, Su Ming suddenly lifted his right hand and seized the air in her direction. The power of the binary opposites that Su Ming had gained from his epiphany was contained within his grip, causing the old woman to immediately freeze as she retreated. Cracking sounds reverberated in her body, and just as she was about to explode, she bit the tip of her tongue. Once she coughed up a mouthful of blood, cracks started appearing on her skin.

At the same moment her skin started cracking, she let out a roar. Her skin burst open, but her body did not break down. The only thing that broke was her skin, and the instant the cracked skin exploded, she resisted Su Ming’s divine ability. As she tumbled backwards, her appearance became much more youthful, but her face was pale. She looked terrified, and a large amount of blood flowed out of her mouth.

But before she managed to retreat any further away and Zi Che and the old man in white closed in on Su Ming with their divine abilities, he let out a cold harrumph and took a step forward again. In an instant, his speed reached a state where he could no longer be seen with the naked eye. He traveled a few rounds around the old woman like a gust of wind, and a whirlwind abruptly appeared. That whirlwind spun around the old woman several times before it disappeared, and Su Ming emerged beside her. He no longer bothered himself with her though, instead lifting his head and casting a chilling glare at the old man in white.

The old woman started shivering. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but all her flesh and blood looked as if they had been cut off by blades and were falling off from her body slice by slice until only her skeleton was left. Then, she fell to the ground...

...Dead.

Killing a Berserker in the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm was not difficult for Su Ming, especially when he wore the Undertaker’s of Evil Armor!

Before the old woman’s skeleton fell to the ground, multiple cracks appeared on her bones, and eighteen red threads that were the size of fingers crawled out of her bones. As those threads twisted about, they turned into blood and died.

When Su Ming turned his gaze towards the old man in white, struggle appeared on his face, but he did not slow down, especially the statue holding the jewel-encrusted purification vase before him. As it took a step forward, it became the first thing to close in on Su Ming. It lifted the vase in its hands and covered him.

Immediately, a great suction force surged towards Su Ming. At the same time, the statue of the God of Berserkers behind the old man in white closed in on him. When it lifted its right hand, a long whip manifested, and as it swung that whip, a loud crack sliced through the air and charged towards Su Ming.

The old man in white gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. His robes puffed up, and a blood hole appeared at the center of his brows. A red thread about the size of an infant’s arm crawled out from it.

”Nan, Mo, Di, La, Zhen!” The moment the old man in white closed his eyes, a few difficult sounding words that were filled with an ancient air tumbled out of his lips.

The instant those words were said, the statue holding the vase started disappearing rapidly to fuse with the vase, which caused suction force inside it to instantly increase explosively.

Even Su Ming started swaying because of it, as if he could not stay in balance. At that moment, before that statue with the whip managed to strike a blow at Su Ming, its body abruptly exploded. That was the self-destruction of a statue of the God of Berserkers!

The instant it exploded, a great force of impact spread out, and for some unknown reason, the suction force from the vase increased once again, and this time, the power of the vase had increased by leaps and bounds!

As the five words traveled through the air, the old man in white was reduced to only skin and bones in the blink of an eye. He had given up his life when casting this divine ability!

All of these things caused the suction force in the vase to reach infinite power, forcing Su Ming’s body to turn into a long arc before he was sucked into the vase.

The old man opened his eyes. The red thread at the center of his brows had gained an even more brilliant shade and was twisting its body around, but the old man seemed to have already gotten used to it. He lifted his right hand and seized the vase. At the moment his hand touched it, he activated… the words he had left in the vase a long time ago to pave his way to survival, all without anyone’s knowledge, including that red thread’s.

”Save me…” That was the first thing Su Ming heard when he was sucked into the vase.

At that moment, all the people’s gazes were trained towards the battle in the sky. No one had noticed a black shadow crawling out of the Rune Su Ming had used to travel to this place the instant it broke down. That black shadow hid in a corner and would occasionally sneak a peek from its hiding place. It looked incredibly dirty, and that creature… was naturally the bald crane…

‘I’m going to be rich! I’m going to be so rich!’

When the bald crane appeared, excitement and exhilaration took over its face. The bird vanished swiftly, and when it reappeared, it had arrived beside the Heaven Gate disciple who had been located nearest to its hiding spot moments ago, and who was unable to move at the moment. He was looking at the sky in shock.

The bald crane blinked, then it immediately closed in on the disciple and touched him with its beak. It even swept its eyes through the disciple’s entire body with a professional gaze before tearing apart his robes. That Heaven Gate disciple’s mouth fell open in shock and surprise, and before he could register what was happening, the bald crane… snatched the necklace on his neck, and like a gust of wind, it flew towards the next person.

‘I’m going to be so rich! So rich! Ha ha! I’m going to be so rich this time! All of these people are just sitting ducks when they’re in this state. The little Berserker brat won’t know what I’m doing either, since he’s sucked into that vase. I’m going to be so rich this time!’

The Heaven Gate disciple widened his eyes, and he looked as if he wanted to scream in rage, as if he wanted to struggle, but his body was frozen to the spot and he could not move. He could only watch the bald crane sashaying away while leaving sneakily. Anger raged in the man’s heart, burning away his rationale, and in his fury and gloom, blood trickled down the corners of his lips. Red even appeared in his eyes due to his rage.

If he could move at this moment, he would definitely swear to kill that damn, thieving bald crane!

This sort of thought… would gain in number very soon as the bald crane continued sweeping through the crowd...

Translator’s Notes:

1. Jewel-encrusted purification vase: 宝瓶 (bao3 ping2), one of the eight 净瓶 (jing4 ping2) in Buddhism, known as clean vase/purification vase, used for purification, training, and meditation purposes. It looks like this:

https://wapbaike.baidu.com/pic/宝瓶/9924696/0/9825bc315c6034a8d9d38794c0134954092376f5?bk_fr=view_summary

And it is absolutely not supposed to be translated as Aquarius.