Pursuit of the Truth

Compared to the invading Evil Spirit Sect, Hidden Dragon Sect was clearly much weaker in terms of power. It was especially so since they did not have the bloodlust and madness that ruled their attackers.

The Evil Spirit Sect disciples who were surrounded by the flesh and blood roared with bloodshot eyes, and their roars brought about great terror and shock to those within Hidden Dragon Sect.

Besides, Shen Dong, with his strength, tore apart all those that tried to stop him as he moved forward, and he would capture all the Nascent Souls that tried to escape. In the midst of shock of all those around him, he would put those Nascent Souls into his mouth, crush them, and then swallow them.

The shock he brought to Hidden Dragon Sect with this almost pushed them to a breaking point.

”Ghost Claw Shen Dong!”

Su Ming stood outside the hall to the left of the hanging bridge. Once he lifted his head and looked at the sky, he started walking forward at a moderate pace. No one took notice of him and simply allowed him to walk into the hall.

There were a few giant statues placed inside there for worship, and they were all created using spirit stones. At that moment, there were seven old men meditating inside that hall with faces as dark as thunderclouds. They had their hands intertwined with each other, and at their center was an oil lamp.

It was not lit at that moment, but as the seven people spread out their power, there were signs that a flame was about to be kindled. Compared to the booming sounds and screams of pain outside, it was incredibly quiet in here.

’Seven people who are at the equivalent of those in the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm…’

Su Ming’s expression remained as calm as ever as he walked into the hall. The seven old men still had their eyes closed and did not notice him. He did not walk towards them, but instead moved to stand beside the three statues in the hall. As he looked at them, a twinkle appeared in his eyes.

’It’s a bit of a waste…’ As he shook his head, the three statues immediately disappeared from the hall without a single sound!

Su Ming was about to leave when he turned his head sideways and looked at the oil lamp surrounded by the seven people, who were sitting on cushions. Those cushions were woven together from medicinal herbs, and there was a faint, refreshing fragrance coming from them.

’Basil Spirit Herb… This Hidden Dragon Sect really has a lot of them…’

Su Ming sighed deeply. He recognized this medicinal herb. Just one shrub of this thing cost at least a hundred inferior spirit stones, and just one of those cushions used up around a hundred of them, which also meant that each of these cushions cost ten thousand inferior spirit stones…

’What a waste!’

Su Ming frowned. He moved towards the seven old men who were still meditating with their eyes closed. From a wave of his arm, the seven men felt a chill run through their entire bodies, and they opened their eyes in surprise and wariness, but immediately after, they became slack-jawed in shock.

The first thing they saw was that the Hidden Dragon Lamp, the Enchanted Treasure they had been trying to light up, had disappeared, but what shocked them even more was that the cushions made of Basil Spirit Herbs under them had also disappeared.

Eventually, when they instinctively looked around them, the seven old men were left completely stunned, and a cold chill filled their hearts, because they saw that the three statues in the hall… had also disappeared.

Su Ming walked past the hall. Right before him was another one. The sounds of battle in the sky were reverberating in the air, and long arcs could be seen flying up from the ground. There were also long arcs that were descending from the sky. Battling, plunder, mad laughter, and screams of pain filled the world.

After taking a few steps forward, Su Ming came to an abrupt halt and lowered his head to look at the floor tiles under his feet.

’Just how rich is this Hidden Dragon Sect…?’

He crouched down and tapped the floor tiles. His eyes started shining with a brilliant glint. He lifted his right hand and pushed his palm toward the ground. The floor tiles around him immediately started shaking, and as cracking sounds rang in the air, they flew up. Su Ming then waved his arm, and all the floor tiles were put away into his storage bag.

A hint of excitement appeared on his face. These floor tiles were not spirit stones, and neither were they medicinal herbs, but were medicine residue!

This medicinal residue was what remained after a failed attempt in creating medicinal cores. They should originally be thrown away, but there were still some essence of the herbs left behind in that residue, that was why these people gathered the residue together and turned them into medicinal tiles to lay on the floor. By doing so, they could naturally bring out the herbs’ medicinal properties, and once they fused with the spiritual aura from the world, the effects would be even better.

An intense look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He looked at the various halls lying before him, and he moved faster towards the buildings waiting in front of him.

There was no one in the second hall, and it was clear that all of them were fighting outside against Evil Spirit Sect. There were a large amount of ancient scrolls placed in this hall, and a gentle layer of light could be seen spreading out of each scroll. Su Ming swept his gaze across them, and took all of them away, then looked at the bookshelves. He took a few steps forward and touched them, then let out a long sigh.

”Lightning struck wood [1]… Hidden Dragon Sect, oh Hidden Dragon Sect…”

As he shook his head, Su Ming immediately put away everything within the hall into his storage bag without holding back even a single bit. Before he left, he cast a glance at the building itself, and a look of regret appeared on his face.

”The materials used to build these halls are also pretty good, but they’re too big. It won’t be easy to take them away.” As Su Ming spoke, his gaze landed on the carvings on the walls around him. They portrayed gentle auspicious beasts [2], whose eyes were made of superior spirit stones.

Su Ming immediately took a few steps forward and walked around that hall. Once he took down all of the spirit stones serving as the eyes for the auspicious beasts, he looked at the hall. He got up and cut off half of the crossbeam before he left, bringing with him regret for not being able to take the whole thing away.

There were four Hidden Dragon Sect disciples nervously protecting the third hall. Their heads were lifted to look at the sky, and fear could be seen on their faces. These four people naturally did not notice Su Ming when he arrived. In fact, even when he moved into the third hall, the four people outside did not notice him.

He looked at the hall, and despite being mentally prepared, he was still stunned by what he saw. He sucked in a sharp breath.

The third hall was filled with an uncountable amount of medicinal herbs. They were enveloped by a gentle circle of light, and were actually still growing bigger. There were also a large amount of seals placed within the hall, used to protect the herbs.

Clearly, this was where Hidden Dragon Sect stored their medicinal herbs. In the past, they would give these herbs away to different disciples according to their needs by trade, or as provisions, or as rewards according to the disciples’ achievements.

However, all of these now belonged to Su Ming.

When he left the third hall, he moved even faster, going so quickly that he practically turned into a bolt of lightning as he charged towards the fourth hall in the distance. On the way, he spread out his powerful divine sense and scanned the area before instantly moving to the place of his choice. All the things that caught his attention within his divine sense were instantly taken away at the instant he arrived.

There was an old man who was charging into the sky with a dark expression on his face. There were three people behind him, and they were all children each of whom was holding an old and simple looking sword in their hands.

The old man leading the group was holding a horsetail whisk. Wisps of freezing air seeped out of the hairs of that weapon, and if anyone took a closer look, they would find that those were not hair, but were actually thin, ice threads that looked like hair!

Yet at the moment the old man brought the three children who were acting as treasure guardians into the sky, a gust of cold wind flew past them, and as the old man was momentarily taken aback, a drastic change of expression immediately appeared on his face. When he turned his head around, he saw bewildered expressions on the three children’s faces, and the three swords in their hands were gone without a trace.

”Who is it?! Who is it?!” The old man’s face was livid with rage. As he roared, a faint voice suddenly traveled into his ears.

”This horsetail whisk is pretty good as well. I’ll be taking it.”

That voice had appeared incredibly suddenly. The old man shuddered, and when he turned his head around, his horsetail whisk was already nowhere to be found. The wisp of divine sense he had connected to that weapon was immediately cut off as well.

Within one of the cave abodes in Hidden Dragon Sect was a middle-aged man with a dark expression on his face. The waves of power from an Immortals’ Soul Transformation Stage could be felt from him. He had his eyes fixed on a medicinal cauldron before him, and in his hesitation, he lifted his right hand and slapped it. Immediately, that medicinal cauldron shattered, and three medicinal cores flew out from within.

Once they were swiftly put away into his storage bag, he quickly left to another chamber in the cave abode. When he walked through his entire place and put away all his belongings into his storage bag, he cast a glance at the crowd fighting in the sky. He saw the Hidden Dragon Sect cultivators dying in large numbers and also how those from Evil Spirit Sect spread out to rain down their crazed slaughter and plunder as their murderous aura surged into the sky.

The middle-aged man clenched his teeth and charged towards a small hidden alley located near his cave abode, but before he could move too far away, a gust of cold wind came towards him, and at the next moment, he felt pain in his head and fell unconscious to the side.

Su Ming showed up with a calm expression. Once he picked the man’s storage bag, he saw another place that seemed rather strange in his divine sense. There were dozens of people on guard there, protecting an old man who had a dark expression on his face. That old man was swiftly running away.

’The best things are usually not things that are stored away and left behind, but those taken away when disaster arrives…’ A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he moved towards those people.

At that moment, as the members of Evil Spirit Sect spread out, three people with the thin man who had tried to kill Su Ming during the Blood Sacrifice as the lead stepped into the first hall located to the left of the hanging bridge. The seven old men in the hall were already gone.

The Evil Spirit Sect disciples looked at the empty hall that was void of statues, cushions, and everything else, and the thin Inner Sect disciple let out a cold harrumph and went behind the hall. The other two quickly followed suit behind him, and the three of them charged towards the second hall.

But as they continued on, their faces gradually turned slightly strange.

”Damn it, just who arrived before us and even took away the floor tiles?!” The thin man’s expression turned dark and he started cursing under his breath. The other two people beside him were momentarily stunned by what they saw before their expressions turned even weirder.

”Did he go mad with poverty or something? He didn’t even give up on the floor tiles…” As the trio charged forward, they quickly arrived at the second hall, but when they entered it, their faces turned even more sullen when they saw the empty building.

”Just who arrived before us?! That guy… he… he even took away the eyes from the carvings!” The two people immediately started cursing.

”That’s nothing. Look up.” The leading Inner disciple sighed and pointed upwards. When the other two lifted their heads and saw half of the crossbeam missing from the hall, they instantly fell silent.

”Give chase. We’ll see who did this, and no matter what, we’ll be taking the things he took from us back!” the thin Inner Sect disciple hissed out through gritted teeth. When they saw four Hidden Dragon Sect members fighting against some of their other fellow Evil Spirit Sect members, the trio immediately became excited.

”Someone is protecting that place, which means that the damn greedy looter won’t have cleared that hall!”

With excitement brimming within them, the trio immediately charged forward.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Lightning struck wood: Believed to be able to repel evil.

2. Auspicious beasts: Creatures that bring you good fortune. They are large and varied, but the four great ones and the most famous ones are dragons, phoenixes, turtles, and kirins.