Pursuit of the Truth

”If you become Yin Death’s Child, then the ninth summit will be protected. The land of Berserkers will become part of Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds once again, which is not reversible. From then on… no more Immortals will be able to take even half a step into your world.

”If you become Yin Death’s Child, your senior brothers will be able to live. They will not be affected even a single bit by this disaster. In fact, I can also heal your eldest senior brother’s injuries within an instant.

”If you refuse… then there will be no ninth summit anymore. Your senior brothers will die, and the land of Berserkers… will still be separated from Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds, just as it always has been.

”Wear this. The moment you put it on, you will become Yin Death’s Child. You will be delivered to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. That place does not belong to Yin Death Region. It is outside, and it is very far away from this place…

”Go to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and search for… the king of Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds! There should be an entrance that leads to the fifth Great True World in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Look for that entrance…

”Once you wear this, you will no longer have freedom. Once you wear this, you will lose your ability to love… You will become cold and heartless. You will lose all sense of pain. You will no longer know what it even is.

”You will… become Yin Death’s Child, something that belongs solely to Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds!”

An endless amount of crystalline sparks gradually appeared from thin air as the world remained still. Once they gathered together, they formed into an item floating before Su Ming’s semi-transparent body.

It was a mask, one made of black steel.

”When you wear this, you will… no longer be you…”

Su Ming’s heart trembled. He stared at the mask with a blank expression, and the ancient voice that came from the Yin Death Vortex reverberated in his heart.

Anguish and absent-mindedness gradually appeared on his face. The dazedness then turned into a sentence in his head.

”When you learn who you are, you… are no longer you. When you no longer know who you are, you… will be you.”

Su Ming remained silent.

”Wear it and head to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. It is a place that has been sealed by the four True Great Worlds. It is a region that is feared by the four True Great Worlds, and it has numerous powerful warriors from the four True Great Worlds guarding it.

”It is… a wasteland, a barren piece of land. It is… also the place that seals the fifth Great True World, and this was done by the four Great True Worlds. It is… also the place where the four Great True Worlds keep their criminals. It... is a place where powerful warriors gather!

”That place is veiled in mystery, and there are endless possibilities there… Yin Death’s Child, wear the mask, and I promise that I will protect the Berserkers. I promise that you will have no worries… until the moment you die in battle.

”Find the king of Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds or look for the entrance to the fifth Great True World.”

The ancient voice reverberated in the air, spreading out and filling the world that had become still before turning into lingering echo that lasted for a long, long time.

”You cannot refuse!”

That was the final sentence spoken by the ancient voice. There was a ruthless tone to it, but there was no threat contained within it. Yet everything before Su Ming had now turned into the sharpest blade that was ripping his heart apart.

The ninth summit’s destruction had stopped. The cave abode’s collapse had only just begun before it was frozen.

”Why me…?” Su Ming asked in a low voice after remaining silent for a moment.

However, he never obtained an answer to his question.

He slowly lifted his hand. He knew that he indeed could not refuse what the voice had just offered.

When he held the mask, a thick Yin Death Aura spread out from within it. That aura instantly blended with Su Ming’s body, causing him to swiftly gain corporeal form from his illusory state. All his injuries were completely cured in the blink of an eye. His legs, arms, body, and head showed up in their complete form.

Su Ming did not put on the mask immediately. He held it firmly, and only the slightest quiver could be seen on his hand. He lifted his head and looked at the sky.

”My eldest senior brother’s injuries,” Su Ming said in a low voice.

”The moment you wear the mask, he will awaken,” the ancient voice said after a moment.

Su Ming remained silent for some time before speaking up again.”I need seven days!”

”Very well. When you put on that mask seven days later, I will come and receive you,” the old voice stated in a merciless tone as it spread through the entire land.

Su Ming looked at the Dao Slaves that had been halted in the world, and when he spoke next, his voice had a freezing chill to it. ”I want all of these thousands of Dao Slaves dead!”

”Very well.”

At the instant that ancient voice said these two words, the thousands of Dao Slaves that had been frozen in midair immediately started bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and their bodies instantly exploded with a bang. Even their Constellation Robes were unable to stop this destructive power. As they collapsed, their flesh and blood spread everywhere.

The thousands of Dao Slaves all died at that instant.

There was no pained screams, no struggle.

Su Ming lifted his head and laughed at the sky. There was a craziness to his laughter, and as he laughed, tears fell from his eyes. The thousands of Dao Slaves had been so powerful, but in the eyes of those who were truly powerful, they were so weak that they had shattered and crumbled with just two words.

At that instant, a desire to become truly strong was deeply burned into Su Ming’s mind. It was a bloody memory, one that he engraved deep into his bones, one that he would never forget.

”I want his robe to no longer protect him. I want… to personally crush his bones and scatter his ashes into the wind!” Su Ming’s crying eyes were crimson red at that moment he turned to glare at Dao Yuan.

”Very well.”

The ancient voice was as heartless and aloof as ever. Once he said it, the stars in the Sacred Constellation Robe on Dao Yuan’s body that had still been rotating slowly even after the world had frozen became still in an instant.

”Seven days later, I will wait for your call.”

The old voice gradually faded into the distance. Once it disappeared, the world’s operations instantly returned to normal, but the ninth summit’s destruction no longer continued. Since the thousands of Dao Slaves had died, their divine abilities also faded away.

The ninth summit might be damaged, but it still stood tall.

The sea started moving and waves began striking at the shore again. The sea breeze began blowing once more, having recovered from its frozen state. It scattered the torn pieces of flesh of thousands of Dao Slaves as they fell to the surface of the sea. The wind brought away the thick, bloody stench, but it could not dissolve the bright red stain on the surface of the sea.

Once the stars in the Constellation Robe stopped moving and the world’s operations were restored, Dao Yuan let out a shrill scream, and his emaciated body shivered. He looked at the thousands of dead Dao Slaves in the sky, all of whom had been reduced to pieces of flesh and blood, and his body started trembling furiously.

They were his everything. They were his foundation in Morning Dao Sect. They were guards that he had drawn to his side after paying an incredibly large price for them, but now… on this one trip to the land of Berserkers, all of them had died.

This consequence was something he could not bear. All the deaths turned into pain, and he coughed up a mouthful blood straight from his heart. He shivered, and goosebumps soon rose all over his body. As extreme terror filled him, to the point that his mind almost detached itself from his body, for he saw Su Ming glaring at him with bloodshot eyes from midair.

While screaming, Dao Yuan started retreating without any hesitation, but before he could withdraw even thirty feet backwards, Su Ming appeared right him with burning hate.

His savage expression, crimson eyes, and hate-filled presence rose Dao Yuan’s terror to its peak. In a frenzy, this young lord wanted to activate his Sacred Constellation Robe, but no matter how he tried, it did not work. It was like a normal robe, one that didn’t have any powers it should have.

Su Ming lifted his right hand. He caught Dao Yuan’s right index finger, and the once proud young lord screamed in terror. Su Ming squeezed lightly, and there was a small cracking sound. He had crushed Dao Yuan’s right index finger.

Filled with intense pain, Dao Yuan’s screamed even louder.

”Don’t kill me, don’t kill me. I am a direct descendant of Morning Dao…”

Before Dao Yuan could finish screaming, Su Ming had already crushed another finger, and another, and another. Once all of Dao Yuan’s fingers had been crushed, the young lord’s pained screams had become hoarse, and there was a weakness to his voice.

But there was still a crazed sinister glint in his eyes that wished evil upon Su Ming.

”If you kill me, then you will suffer and die. Morning Dao Sect will definitely take revenge for me. Your people will be eradicated. They will die…”

Su Ming lifted his right hand and crushed Dao Yuan’s right arm inch by inch, moving slowly upwards from the shattered fingers and palm. When the bones in Dao Yuan’s right arm had all been crushed, the shattered pieces became spikes that pierced his skin to the point they could be seen outside. The young lord was in an incredibly wretched state.

Dao Yuan’s screams became louder. The pain destroyed all his malice and his curses. As tears fell from his eyes, he started begging for mercy nonstop.

”Let me go. I-I…”

But before he could even finish pleading, Su Ming had seized his left arm, and crushed the bones were in the same manner as before.

After that, Su Ming did not immediately kill him. Instead, he crushed Dao Yuan’s legs and skull before untying his Constellation Robe. Once Su Ming put away the robe, he calmly brought out a medicinal pill to cure wounds and threw it into the weakened and terrified Dao Yuan’s mouth.

That medicinal pill melted in Dao Yuan’s mouth. It turned into a wave of life force that filled him with vigor, preventing him, whose consciousness was about to scatter, from sinking into unconsciousness. Once again, he experienced the indescribable pain of having most of the bones in his body crushed, and the suffering of his crushed bones scraping against his flesh and blood.

His shrill and hoarse screams rang in the air once again. As he screamed, Su Ming took a step forward and stood before the trembling body. Once he froze Dao Yuan’s body with an Art, he lifted his left hand slowly and sliced down at the spot right above Dao Yuan’s spine.

A long wound instantly appeared there. Due to his hate for Dao Yuan, he used both his hands to rip that wound open. As he did that, Dao Yuan screamed even more shrilly. His spine and two rows of ribs were revealed under the open flesh, along with his beating heart and lungs, which were alternating between contracting and expanding.

With a calm expression on his face, Su Ming reached in with both hands and seized Dao Yuan’s lungs before he yanked them out in one swift move. The shrill screams reached their most intense state. When Dao Yuan breathed in next, his eyes bulged out, and as his body shivered… he truly breathed his last and died!

His storage bag flew into the air. Once Su Ming seized it, he closed his eyes, and two trails of tears fell down his cheeks.