Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming was slightly faster than the old man. When he chased the old man down, he was like a long arc that was instantly on him. The old man’s eyes sparkled. He might only have three steps left before his Nascent Divinity could leave, but he would not be able to complete these them with how quickly Su Ming was charging at him.

His face turned pale. No matter how he turned his head around to think, he could not find a way for him to survive. He did not have Enchanted Treasures, did not have items to help him block Su Ming’s attack, his power could not compare to the other’s, much less his combat abilities. The wild arrogance he had before he descended had completely disappeared, and it was replaced by a wave of despair.

In the mid of his despair, there seemed to be only one path that remained for him!

Self-destruction!

He could trigger the explosion of his Nascent Divinity, and with his real self having to go through a disaster in Hidden Dragon Sect as well as his power being greatly reduced as a price, he could injure Su Ming… but he did not want to do it!

This would bring no good to him. At that moment, the old man’s hate towards Sun Shan was already so great that it was practically burning his soul!

’Damn it! Do I really have to self-destruct?!’

The old man fell into despair. Unless he absolutely had to, he would definitely not take this path. This was something he absolutely could not accept.

Even if he could injure Su Ming, his real self’s level of cultivation would still fall. He might not even be able to return to the land of Immortals. He might even die during the chaos that was about to arrive.

He could almost imagine it, for it was not like he did not have enemies in Hidden Dragon Sect itself. If his power fell, then with the slightest careless mistake, he would end up in an incredibly terrible state.

This was a dilemma!

These sort of thoughts were what were reflected on the old man’s at the moment, albeit only for a moment. When he saw that Su Ming was getting closer still, he knew that the other would most likely close in on him and interrupt his actions before he could even finish taking his fourth step.

’What should I do?!’

The old man opened his eyes. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and anxiety appeared on his face. But just as he was about to attack in desperation, a thought suddenly flashed in his head, like a bolt of lightning crackling in the sky with a loud bang.

’Hidden Execution of Justice! That’s right, the first thing this person asked me when I appeared was about Hidden Execution of Justice!’ The old man had already reached Ascendant Stage, and his intelligence was naturally of extraordinary standards. When that thought formed in his head, he understood what he needed to do instantly.

And as that understanding dawned on him, misery, too, rose in his heart.

’What a calculative man. With this person around among the Berserkers, he’ll surely become a great enemy of us Immortals in the future…

’He waited for me to descend for Hidden Dragon Sect’s Hidden Execution of Justice. I don’t know where he heard of it, but judging by his looks, he seems to be incredibly familiar with this Art, and he also knows that everyone can cast it!

’This person must have definitely asked that disciple of mine, and he wasn’t satisfied with his answer, that’s why I was allowed to descend. All of this was part of his plan, and Sun Shan did not even notice it.

’He waited for me to descend on purpose and even asked that question because he already knew the end result of the battle. He knew that I would definitely not be his opponent and would choose to run. He also knew that I would definitely be conflicted and struggle over my choices right now. Similarly, he knew that I would remember the first question he asked of me at this moment.

’It’s clear now. He doesn’t want me to self-destruct and get injured either. He will let me leave, but the price is… Hidden Execution of Justice!’

A resolute look appeared on the old man’s face, as he was filled with misery. Right at the instant Su Ming was about to close in on him, he lifted his right hand and flung it forward.

”Hidden Dragon Ninth Dao, Autumn Harvest Winter Storage!”

As the old man’s voice reverberated in the air and his right hand moved, a murky shade instantly appeared in his right eye.

”Hidden Dragon Eighth Dao, Hidden in Secret!”

While the words swiftly tumbled out of his mouth, he changed the seal in his right hand and pointed at his right eye. Then, the murky shade there started to rapidly gather together, and the edges of his eye began to gain clarity.

”Hidden Dragon Seventh Dao, Covering Tracks in Shadows!”

With these words, he took his fourth step backwards, and when his presence diminished once again, the murkiness and clarity in his right hand fused together, causing his right eye’s pupil to look as if it was hidden away by his right eye, as if it was covered in shadows!

”Hidden Dragon Sixth Dao, Fire in Sleeves!”

The old man lifted his left hand and changed the seal. When it seemed like there were a few sparks flickering in his sleeves, a flame’s glow instantly appeared in his right eye. As that light flickered, his pupil looked as if it had turned into a ball of burning flames. The sparks that had appeared in his sleeve were also immediately absorbed by his eye, making it seem as if there were flames moving in circles before the old man, and they were all surging towards him.

At that moment, his right eye was continuously alternating between four states - murkiness, clarity, flames, and illusions, all of which turned it into a shocking, strange sight!

”Hidden Dragon Third Dao, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!”

The old man let out a low growl and took his fifth step backwards. At the instant it landed, his presence turned incredibly weak, and his Nascent Divinity in this body gave off a chaotic feel, as if he was about to turn into wisps of divine sense at any moment.

As his voice rang in the air and the seal in his right hand changed, a large amount of afterimages from seals appeared before him. Those afterimages appeared like fog, and as dragon roars echoed among them, the seals connected together to turn into a roaring dragon.

Almost at the same time it manifested, blood capillaries appeared in the old man’s right eye, and as they intersected, they formed a clear pattern of a tiger’s stripes!

At the instant that happened, the dragon that was swimming about and roaring in front of the old man charged into his right eye and fused with the stripes.

”Hidden Dragon Second Dao, Concealment... in the Void!” the old man shouted out, and the blood capillaries in his eye changed to form a dragon at the center, with the tiger’s stripes around it, and the Eight Trigrams at the edges of his eye. A blood-red ray of light also appeared, causing his right eye to gain a strangely enchanting edge.

He lifted his foot, and when he moved to take his sixth step, he dug his fingers into his right eye socket, and without bothering about the intense pain brought by his actions, he yanked his right eye out of his body, then tossed it towards Su Ming, who was walking towards him slowly with a calm look on his face.

”I have acted rashly today, and now use this Hidden Execution of Justice as an apology for my actions. Let us meet again in the future!”

The old man took his sixth step. He might have understood Su Ming’s thoughts and had done things according to his wishes, but he was still worried that the other would change his mind and constantly kept his guard around him. If Su Ming did something else, then the old man would self-destruct at all costs.

At the moment he took his sixth step, Su Ming caught the eyeball and looked towards the old man. The Nascent Divinity in the old man’s body had already turned into divine sense, and it was sucked into Sun Shan’s body as if he had turned into a black hole. It disappeared without a trace, a clear sign that the old man had left Sun Shan’s body and went back to Hidden Dragon Sect, which was located tens of thousands of lis away from this end of the connected tunnel.

Sun Shan, who had lost the old man’s Nascent Divinity, fell to the side and was trembling violently in a state of unconsciousness. Blood trickled out from the corners of his mouth, and in his weakened state, he struggled to open his eyes, but as even his eyelids shivered, he lost all of his strength and his eyes fell shut once more as he breathed his last.

He did not die because of Su Ming, but because his Master had absorbed his last shreds of life in a fit of hate before he left.

Su Ming cast a glance at the Hidden Execution of Justice in his hand. Seeing this item’s use when Hong Luo was in control of his body was not the only reason why he wanted this. More importantly, he had also come to know from the memories he inherited from Hong Luo that this Hidden Execution of Justice, which was a mysterious, ancient art in Hidden Dragon Sect, had the ability to break many seals.

However, this Art was rather sinister. Not only could a person practice this Art, it could also be snatched from a practitioner, just like what happened just now. Once the right eye of the person who practiced this Art was snatched away, then he would lose all the benefits that came with this Art, but that did not mean that there was no remedy to this situation. The practitioner himself would just need to take it back from that person who snatched the Art from him.

Su Ming did not know the details though. He was only aware of the general idea of how it worked.

He lifted his left hand and swung it at Sun Shan’s corpse through the air, and the corpse immediately turned into ashes. Only his storage bag was left behind and extracted from his body before it landed on Su Ming’ palm and was then put away into his bosom. With a sparkle in his eyes, Su Ming looked down at the barren land underneath.

The mountain range had already turned into a flat ruin, courtesy of the battle just now, which had caused the entire hill to collapse. Only a small part of the third barren hill remained, and that was because it was protected by the seal placed on it.

Su Ming was just about to take action as he looked at the seal when his expression suddenly changed. He lifted his head and cast a glance in the direction of Thousand River Valley. The waves of power that had appeared in this place just now might have been limited to only ten thousand feet, but when Sun Shan’s Master left just now, the power of the world he had stirred up was clearly no longer just in the range of ten thousand feet, which was why the powerful warriors in Evil Spirit Sect had immediately noticed it.

A flicker of light appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he took a step forward, appearing right outside the door to the cave abode, which was hidden away by the streaming rivers of light. He lifted the Hidden Execution of Justice in his right hand and pushed forward, and the eyeball immediately shone with a strange light. The dragon and tiger inside roared, and the Eight Trigrams manifested. The blood capillaries changed their position, as if they were matching the patterns of the seal, and almost in an instant, cracking sounds rang in the air, and the flowing streams of light outside the cave abode instantly dissipated.

The door to the cave slowly opened up, and a powerful ray of light shot out from within. A presence of extreme Yang instantly spread out, and right at the moment Su Ming sensed that presence, his body started rapidly withering away, but he did not panic. His eyes lit up instead.

He was somewhat familiar with this presence. It was the same presence he felt in the galaxy beyond the vortex when he left the World of Nine Yin with the ancient bronze sword in the past.

By the time the door to the cave completely opened up, there were several long arcs charging forth from the distance. Su Ming stared at the cave, and the thing floating in midair within it.

It was a stone about the size of a fist, made entirely of gold. The light shining from its body was like the sun, and it could make people feel warm in its presence, but to Su Ming, this light and presence was like poison, and it was causing his body to swiftly wither away!

’Bright Yang Stone!’

Su Ming’s skin filled with wrinkles, and he looked as if he had walked through his entire life during the couple breaths since the cave abode opened. A thick aura of death spread out from his body, but when it touched the light from this Bright Yang Stone, it melted away like snow and rapidly dissipated.

Su Ming hesitated for a moment, but it only lasted for a moment before he stepped forth without any hesitation and faced the light that was making his life disappear head-on. He charged towards the stone, and at that moment, he looked as if he had turned into a moth that was charging straight into a fire!

At the instant he grabbed hold of the Bright Yang Stone, a large amount of black smoke spread out from his right hand, and a sharp pain that went straight to his soul shot through his body, causing Su Ming to almost be unable to bear with the pain, but he did not loosen his grip around the stone. Instead, he wrapped his fingers tighter around it!

”Su Ming, if you can’t even handle a small little stone and give up now, then what right do you have to say that you want to get out of Yin Death Region?!” Su Ming growled with a pale face. As he threw that question to himself, he grabbed that stone, took a step forward, stepped into air, and instantly warped away, right at the moment an innumerable amount of long arcs closed in on the area from the sky!