Pursuit of the Truth

This one step was not difficult to cross either, because Su Ming already knew what he was lacking. Once he gained his epiphany, he came to a vague understanding that he was lacking life force. It was the years of life that belonged to those from Bright Yang Region.

It was also at this instant that a man’s voice that was unfamiliar to him but was warm and gentle appeared in his soul. It sounded as if it had come from a long, long time ago.

”Building Abyss…”

”Building Abyss…” This second voice was Su Ming mumbling it to himself.

As his voice traveled outwards and the starlight came towards him, a shocking boom shook the sky and earth beyond the ninth summit.

The entire world looked as if it had stopped rotating as those booming sounds shot into the air. Su Ming’s body crumbled at that instant, even if he had come to understand what it meant to build the Abyss, even if he had stepped into the later stage of Life Matrix, and even if… he had managed to execute the will of autumn during the final moment.

However, in the face of absolute power, all of these things were so weak that they could not withstand even a single hit. Su Ming’s body crumbled, but even though he managed to gather an illusory body once again on the ninth summit, the body that manifested this time was almost completely transparent. It was faint, and if anyone tried to search for him with the naked eye, they’d find it almost impossible to detect him.

A weakness that came from the bottom of his soul filled Su Ming’s consciousness. He staggered back a few steps, but firmly stopped outside the cave abode at the top of the mountain. Even at this point, he still wanted to protect the ninth summit.

Even if his consciousness had almost completely scattered away and he was about to truly die, he still continued standing there firmly, even if… he had already become invisible.

As the booming sounds reverberated in the sky, several dozens of the thousands of Dao Slaves turned into corpses with shocked expressions on their faces. They did not even make a single sound as they transformed and fell into the sea.

Less than fifty people died from the thousands. To the Dao Slaves, the number of casualties they suffered did not even cause any damage to the foundation of their army… but at that moment, the expressions of those thousands of people had become grave.

Even though less than fifty of their own had died, there were several hundred of whose faces had turned pale while they were losing most of their life force as well as their years of life. Even their levels of cultivation had fallen by several stages.

All of this was due to Su Ming alone.

”Kill him! By my orders, kill him! Damn it! All of you attack together and immediately kill him! Destroy that mountain! It’s clear that he’s still not choosing to run but to fight to the death in this place because this mountain is incredibly important to him! Destroy the mountain! Kill him!” Dao Yuan started yelling once more while hiding behind all of his Dao Slaves.

Killing intent shone within the thousands of Dao Slaves’ eyes. This time, as they charged forward, the thousands of people spread out before executing their divine abilities. As they cast them, a destructive power that could destroy the world erupted from their bodies with a bang.

That power was enough to destroy the current Su Ming as well as the ninth summit. It would put his senior brothers as well as Qian Chen and the bald crane into eternal slumber, and his eldest senior brother would not wake up ever again, either.

In his weakened state, Su Ming lifted his head with great difficulty. His gaze fell on the excited Dao Yuan behind the thousands of Dao Slaves. At the instant he saw him, the final chilling light of Su Ming’s life shone in his eyes.

”I have no regrets living and dying with the ninth summit… but it’s a pity that I didn’t manage to kill the one who destroyed it, that Dao Yuan. I will be ashamed to meet my senior brothers in hell…” Su Ming mumbled.

At the instant the divine abilities from the thousands of Dao Slaves closed in on him, he lowered his head to look at the killing sword in his hand. The tip of the sword was trembling, and he could sense the resolve to kill the world coming from the spirit.

”I have two more divine abilities…”

Su Ming could sense that he was so weak that he had reached his limit. As he was about to disappear, he swiftly lifted his left hand and pushed his palm against the ground.

With it, the ground immediately trembled. A wave of earthen aura surged out from the ninth summit and the sea beneath it. It covered Su Ming’s left hand, then, through his left arm, it charged into his illusory body, making Su Ming’s left hand wither immediately. At the time his arm looked as if it had become emaciated, white light surrounded it.

This was the Surging Indulgers’ divine ability. It was one of the Arts Su Ming had learned in Eastern Wastelands Tower. It was also the reason why the ancient existence in Yin Death Vortex had paid attention to him. It was even… the key to stir up the hundred thousand Surging Indulger and Evil Spirit warriors in the two worlds within the Yin Death Vortex.

The Surging Indulgers’ divine ability used spirits to refine the body. If Su Ming had a body of flesh and blood, then what would wither would be his flesh and blood, yet even though it might look as if it had withered, he wouldn’t have lost a lot of his blood and flesh. The portion that withered would have just been absorbed by the other parts in his body, which would cause his body to no longer look complete but as if there was a gap within it. This would then allow the Art to use the withered left arm to become a power that could absorb other people’s flesh and blood to make its owners body whole again.

In truth, the completion they would gain after that would cause the Surging Indulgers to become slightly stronger than before.

However, Su Ming did not possess a physical body at that moment, hence the part that looked withered… was his soul. As his left arm withered, his entire illusory body gradually began to wither until his soul completely disappeared. His right hand, which held onto the killing sword, had gathered Su Ming’s Atman in its entirety to gain corporeal form, in a manner as if it had gone through crystallization.

The right hand swiftly flew up. With its fingers curled around the killing sword and Su Ming’s will, at the instant the thousands of divine abilities from the Dao Slaves closed in, the hand charged towards the spot where Dao Yuan was in the distance while taking the form of a long arc. It charged forward with a speed that shattered all space and rushed towards Dao Yuan.

The sword traveled so quickly that it closed the distance of less than a thousand feet in the blink of an eye. There had been Dao Slaves in its way, but no matter who got in the sword’s path, none of them were able to avoid the attack that was practically the last strike of Su Ming’s life.

At the instant Su Ming sent his sword charging forth, his Atman executed the other divine ability of another race he had learned in Eastern Wastelands Tower. It was the Evil Spirits’ Art. A large amount of black smoke erupted from Su Ming’s crystallized right hand which held onto the killing sword. Once the black smoke covered the right hand, it became impossible to see.

At the instant the hand disappeared, the black smoke turned into a ferocious face of a ghost which covered the area around the killing sword. As it roared, it propelled the killing sword with a bang.

Wherever it went, nearly a hundred Dao Slaves tried to stop it, but the instant they touched the sword, the ghost’s face released a roar that had the power to shake people’s hearts and souls.

This roar reverberated in the air, and it was as if it could stop all operations in the world, for nearly a hundred Dao Slaves stopped simultaneously. The divine abilities they executed also froze, simply allowing that ghost face to charge past them.

The sword appeared right before the screaming Dao Yuan, whose face was now showing shock and terror.

The thousands of Dao Slaves around him did not have time to save him. Su Ming’s killing sword was traveling too quickly, and the ferocious ghost face stopped all the operations in the world, making it so the Dao Slaves could only watch what happened.

The sword which contained Su Ming’s life and everything else within him came at the center of Dao Yuan’s brows.

At the instant the sword was about to pierce him, the stars in the Constellation Robe on Dao Yuan’s body started rotating swiftly. The starlight spun, and the ferocious ghost face around the killing sword let out a shrill scream of pain and disappeared.

However, a scream of pain came from Dao Yuan’s mouth as well. His Constellation Robe was fighting against the ferocious ghost face and protecting his body, but once the Surging Indulger’s divine ability had gathered Su Ming’s life within the killing sword, the power of absorption from the Art had forcefully sucked out a part of Dao Yuan’s soul from his body upon impact.

Dao Yuan’s shrill screams of pain reverberated in the air. His soul was being devoured at a rapid pace, and his body was swiftly withering as it trembled. This was the picture of someone whose flesh, blood, and essence were being absorbed. That pain was comparable to the death by a thousand cuts [1].

However, the Sacred Constellation Robe was a treasure that all direct descendants of the Dao family in Morning Dao Sect could obtain after their birth. It might be impossible for Dao Yuan to bring out its true might… but there were still certain aspects that made the robe powerful.

It forcefully retained a single wisp of Dao Yuan’s soul so that he would not die. Even if his body turned into mere skin and bones at that moment and there was a dismal air all around him… he was still alive.

However, even if he was alive, he was in pain that was much worse than death. His shrill screams of pain had already turned hoarse, and he had lost all his strength. If the Constellation Robe had not locked his soul in his body, he would have died a long time ago. But this lockdown and the absorption from Su Ming’s killing sword was like a saw, making him suffer an intense pain that would shatter anyone else’s consciousness.

However, it was difficult for Su Ming to last long in this condition. His killing sword gradually lost its power of absorption. The ferocious ghost face had also disappeared from midair. Everything that was part of Su Ming’s very existence was no longer around. Even his consciousness which he had gathered on the killing sword gradually turned into glittering sparkles that were now spreading out.

The killing sword let out a sad whistle. It had not been with Su Ming for long, but during that short period of time, it had experienced the true way to be used as a sword.

It was infatuated with this feeling, and so it whistled sadly once it sensed Su Ming’s consciousness fading away and scattering in all directions.

In the distance, the divine abilities from the thousands of Dao Slaves had already covered the ninth summit. It was quickly being broken down, and it wouldn’t be long until it crumbled in its entirety.

It seemed that it was no longer possible for anything to happen that could change what was now meant to be.

The final soul in Su Ming’s body, that of the white-haired man who had turned into moths. had been correct. There was someone who was unwilling to let him succeed, and that someone had opened the path for all the ships to enter smoothly into the land of Berserkers.

But there was also an existence which was unwilling to let Su Ming die like this.

”Su Ming, are you willing… to become Yin Death’s Child… for Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds..?” an ancient voice asked languidly from the sky at that instant.

Once that voice spoke, the whole world froze. The thousands of Dao Slaves became still and unmoving in midair. Their divine abilities froze up, and the ninth summit’s collapse was also halted.

The sea’s movements, the wind’s howls, and everything else froze the moment the voice spoke.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Death by a thousand cuts: Otherwise known as Lingchi. It is an execution method in China where the executioner cuts the condemned multiple times until he eventually dies. Supposed to be only for traitors.