Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming’s voice lingered in the air, and before it disappeared, the Great Patriarch’s body collapsed. The difference of power between the Great Patriarch and Su Ming was too great with the Great Patriarch’s current condition. Su Ming could kill him in the blink of an eye.

There was not a drop of blood on the killing sword, and it was a telling sign that the Great Patriarch who had died twice was not really an existence that was made of flesh and blood, but a bizarre thing that was somewhere in-between being an illusion and a being of flesh and blood.

’Art of Nine Deaths. I once killed the Shamans’ Great Patriarch along with Master and Guru Li Long all those years ago when we finally managed to make him fall into slumber…’ This was not the memories that belonged to Su Ming’s current incarnation. It was something from his previous life, one among the many reincarnations he had gone through.

When the memories of that life appeared in his head, a presence that was stronger than before and belonged to End Shamans erupted forth with a bang from the space before Su Ming. That presence… surpassed those who had attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm.

As it exploded, a fist that was not completely shriveled up shot out from the air and charged towards Su Ming’s chest like a bolt of lightning.

As loud booming sounds reverberated in the air and the fist was seven inches away from Su Ming’s body, cracking sounds shot out into the air, and ice immediately grew on the fist, covering it instantly. The fist thus became an ice sculpture.

At the same time, an old man who looked to be in his fifties took a step out of the air behind that fist. His hair was not completely white but mixed with some black strands of hair. His body was not as thin as bones either, but looked slightly stronger and bulkier. He was naturally the Shamans’ Great Patriarch, who had now resurrected for the third time.

His body, his presence, and his life force seemed to have returned as his age regressed. At that moment, when he walked out and his presence erupted from his body, layers of ripples instantly appeared in the air around him.

”Sir, since you said that you are an old acquaintance of mine, then tell me who you are!”

The Great Patriarch pulled back his frozen right hand, and without even bothering to look at the ice on his arm, he flung it. Immediately, banging sounds rang out, and a ray of black light spread out from his body, looking as if it wanted to destroy the ice.

Yet no matter how that black light covered the ice, it did not manage to make the ice show any signs of melting. Instead, the ice began to spread even faster.

Only then did the Great Patriarch’s expression change.

His heart thumped an extra time, and he became even more wary of Su Ming. His first and second deaths had been completely expected, because he had been weak, and his cultivation method was one where he would grow stronger as he died.

Yet even if his third resurrection had begun showing his real strength, he still could not melt the ice on his arm. This made his heart shudder, and at the same time, a cautious expression appeared on his face.

He had lived for far too many years, but no matter how hard he tried to think, he could not remember a single person whose shape would overlap with Su Ming’s. This made him incredibly uncertain of Su Ming’s words.

”You will remember,” Su Ming stated flatly and took a step towards the old man.

When his foot landed, killing intent shone in the Great Patriarch’s eyes. As he moved, he began making various seals with his left hand at a rapid speed. Then, a complex string of chants that were difficult to understand fell from his mouth.

Yet almost at the instant those chants rang in the air, Su Ming placed the killing sword horizontally before his body and swiped two of his fingers on his left hand from the bottom to the tip before gently flicking the weapon.

A clear sword whistle echoed in the air, and within it was a bloodthirsty roar. It was the roar of the sword’s spirit, and as it spread out, the sword whistle instantly cut off the Great Patriarch’s chants.

Once they were interrupted, Su Ming lifted his killing sword and sliced diagonally in the old man’s direction. A ray of sword light sliced through the sky, and during that time, Su Ming used the killing sword to slice through the air in the form of an arc before he turned the tip of the sword to his lower left.

A shudder wrecked the Great Patriarch’s body where he stood thousands of feet away from Su Ming. Then, his body split into two and he broke into dust.

He could not fight against the might within Su Ming’s killing sword. In fact, it was difficult for him to even try resisting it.

The difference between their levels of cultivation became a difference between life and death when the Great Patriarch was pitted against Su Ming, who was unparalleled in this world.

”This is the third death.”

Su Ming calmly looked at the spot before him, which was the place where the Great Patriarch had died. The killing sword disappeared from his hand, and a large amount of purple fog appeared outside his body. That purple fog gathered together on Su Ming’s body and formed a purple armor. Once it covered even Su Ming’s face, it seemed as if he was wearing a mask.

Su Ming lifted his right hand and seized the air to his right. Purple fog immediately gathered there and turned into a huge long spear. That spear was purple in its entirety, and an indescribable bloodthirsty, murderous aura spread out from it.

Almost at the instant the Undertaker of Evil’s Spear appeared, a presence that belonged to the Great Patriarch and was much stronger than before appeared in the world with a bang. The strength of this presence was already infinitesimally close to the Berserkers’ Life Cultivation Realm, and it was close to the Shamans’ Hollow stage, which was the stage after End.

However, it was only close. He had not completely reached it. To Su Ming, this level of cultivation still lay at a distance far from his current level of cultivation.

”You’re a little stronger than in the past. I remember that you only managed to bring out this sort of power after your sixth death,” Su Ming stated calmly.

If his Master Tian Xie Zi had not cast a strange Art during their battle that year and connected their powers together to activate a talisman to kill the Great Patriarch for four consecutive times in quick succession to end the battle, it would have been incredibly difficult for them to make the Great Patriarch fall asleep.

At the instant the incredibly powerful presence erupted from the Great Patriarch, an illusory figure appeared in the distance and charged towards Su Ming in the blink of an eye. He was so quick that he was like an after image, and in an instant, he was already less than thirty feet away from Su Ming.

This figure might be quick, but Su Ming could see clearly that it was a man in his forties. The man’s body was strong and filled with power, and the shadow of a crescent moon shone in his eyes.

Su Ming remained calm. When the Great Patriarch came closer to him, he lifted the Undertaker of Evil’s Spear and thrust forward with it. The air looked as if it exploded, and as Su Ming’s presence of Life Cultivation roared, the tip of his spear not only tore through space, but a large amount of chilling air also spread out and caused snow to begin floating down in the entire region.

This was the result of Su Ming’s Atman and also his Life Matrix, which was of midwinter. The cold air and snow spread out from the spear and went charging along with the spear towards the incoming Great Patriarch in midair.

Yet at the instant the cold air, the snow, and the spear were about to touch him, a sinister and malicious intent suddenly appeared at the corners of the middle-aged Great Patriarch’s lips. Before the tip of the spear could touch him, a chilling glare appeared in his eyes, and a destructive power erupted from his body. He chose to self-destruct!

He made his body explode in exchange for an even greater power. The destruction that was stirred up surpassed his full-powered strike before he self-destructed, and it was a killing move he managed to execute by using an extreme method while having the advantage of resurrection.

When he self-destructed, it was his fourth death. His consciousness was quickly leaving his exploding body to gather together somewhere else for his fifth resurrection.

Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. The long spear in his right hand continued charging forward without changing direction, but he lifted his left hand and turned the back of his hand downwards while his palm faced the sky.

He said flatly, ”That which exists between the past and the future is Destiny.” As Su Ming spoke, the long spear came into contact with the destructive waves that were stirred up by the Great Patriarch self-destruction. At that instant, Su Ming swung his left hand towards the exploding Great Patriarch.

With it, the laws of the world swiftly transformed around the exploding Great Patriarch’s body.

”Since you’re seeking death by self-destructing, then why don’t you explode a few more times?”

When Su Ming spoke his words, the motions of the Great Patriarch’s body bursting apart as he exploded froze abruptly, and the signs of destruction instantly turned backwards. The body swiftly gathered together from its crumbling state, as if time was flowing backwards.

Once the torn pieces gathered together and turned back into The Great Patriarch’s body, a dazed and confused look appeared on his face as he discovered to his shock that his consciousness had been forcefully held back in his body by this power that seemed to turn back time. He could simply not leave.

Because of it, this body became his fifth resurrection. This was the first time he ran into such a shocking thing in his long life. Before this, he had never experienced such a thing.

While he was in shock, his body restored itself from its exploding state against his will, then exploded once again. This was not what he wanted, but it was what was created by the change that occurred when Su Ming controlled the past and the future.

A wave of terror rose in the Great Patriarch’s heart. His body exploded with a bang, and his consciousness scattered. This was his fifth death.

Yet soon, he discovered to his despair that when he woke up once again, he was still standing before Su Ming, and he was still trapped in the fearsome law of time flowing backwards. He was still… going to self-destruction.

The sixth death.

The seventh death.

When the Great Patriarch died the eighth time, self-destructing while his consciousness scattered away, he let out a desperate roar. With it, just as his consciousness was about to fade away, a talisman suddenly appeared before him. As it shone, it sucked out his consciousness, and he was able to fuse with it, forcefully rushing out of Su Ming’s cycles of repetition brought by Destiny. He disappeared into midair.

”You finally brought that thing out.”

A brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. Almost the moment the talisman disappeared, he swiftly lifted his left hand to seize it. But right at the instant he was about to touch that talisman, he missed it, as if the talisman did not exist in the first place.

”Many people have tried to snatch this supreme treasure of mine over the countless years, but none of them were able to touch it. There will be no exception for you…” The Great Patriarch’s roar came out from the talisman that was now nearly gone.

A chilling glare appeared in Su Ming’s eyes when he saw that most of the talisman had vanished. He did not bother with the Great Patriarch’s voice. A freezing air instantly filled the area above his left hand, turning the area into something akin to an ice statue. That was Su Ming gathering his Life Matrix and Atman on his left hand. Once he did so, he went to seize that talisman with his left hand again. This time, at the instant his left hand touched the talisman, a booming sound rang out in Su Ming’s head.

That booming was actually a voice shouting four words at the sky.

”Life of Nine Deaths!”

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He knew that this voice had only appeared because he was not grabbing the talisman with an ordinary method. It spoke only because his Life Matrix had touched it.

”You… You…” A howl filled with disbelief came from that talisman. There was a shrill note within that howl that expressed shock.