Pursuit of the Truth

”What is this… Ah!”

Just as Ye Shen Tong said these words, the rotting spot on his right wrist swiftly spread through his entire right arm, and within an instant, his right arm was reduced to a puddle of blood.

The poison from the wasp did not only destroy Ye Shen Tong’s physical body, but also corroded his cultivation base, causing Ye Shen Tong’s level of cultivation to plunge straight down once he lost his arm.

This sudden change of events happened too quickly, so by the time Tian Lin and the others heard a shrill scream of pain, it was all over. Ye Shen Tong’s screams continued to echo in the tunnel.

His voice revealed a mind that had sank into madness due to pain. As Ye Shen Tong’s shrill screams rang in the air, veins popped up on his face. Blood capillaries instantly filled the whites of his eyes. The pain he suffered at that moment made him lose control of himself despite his power and endurance. It was a clear sign that the pain he felt was so great that it exceeded the limits of what he could take.

Tian Lin’s expression changed drastically. He swiftly approached Ye Shen Tong, but at the instant he took a step forward, a bloody stench immediately spread through the air, and Tian Lin’s eyes shrank instantly. He had a strong feeling that he could not touch the puddle of blood that had formed when Ye Shen Tong’s body melted, or else he would be in great trouble.

In his hesitation, he saw that Ye Shen Tong had not just lost his right hand. Half of his flesh and blood started flowing down like water, revealing the bones beneath, which were also turning into liquid.

All of this might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, only a few breaths had passed since Ye Shen Tong attacked Su Ming. However, Ye Shen Tong’s status as a World Paragon was truly demonstrated when he forced himself to focus in the mid of all his shrill screams of pain and face off against the venom of the poisonous wasp. He swiftly lifted his left hand and seized the air, and immediately, eight medicinal bottles appeared in his hand. He swallowed eight different antidotes in one go.

However, no matter how many of those antidotes he swallowed, he still could not stop the spread of the poison. His legs shivered, and even they were reduced to liquid. He fell with a crash onto the puddle of blood, looking incredibly pathetic and wretched.

However, he was still a World Paragon. At the instant most of his body had melted and his level of cultivation dropped by a large margin, he rose his half-melted left hand with much difficulty and struck his forehead fiercely, which currently had its skin turning into blood and dripping down, showing his similarly melting skull.

Ye Shen Tong let out a shocking roar. All his power erupted from his body, forcing his Nascent Divinity to leave at the instant his body was about to melt completely.

Almost at the same time Ye Shen Tong’s Nascent Divinity left his body, the remaining part of his body fell down, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a puddle of blood as well. His Nascent Divinity was lustreless while he floated in the air. As he shivered, he looked at Su Ming, and his gaze showed shock and terror, along with hatred as well as disbelief.

”Pity. If you had decided earlier to give up on your physical body and had your Nascent Divinity leave sooner, then you would have kept more of your power.” The mocking look in Su Ming’s eyes disappeared and he returned to his usual aloof expression as he spoke calmly.

When he spoke, there was a wasp that looked as if it was completely harmless lying on his shoulder. The wasp’s wings were shivering lightly and letting out faint buzzing sounds. It had already pulled back the poisonous sting into its stinger, but the buzzing sound made Tian Lin and the others’ expressions turn grave.

Tian Lin looked at Su Ming. He was the one who paid the most attention to Su Ming in the group, but this level of awareness only reached a state where he treated Su Ming as his equal. However, once he had his Nascent Divinity change places with his physical body, he had obtained a temporary increase in power, so he had naturally come to pay less attention and attach less value to Su Ming.

He had always believed that even though Su Ming posed some form of threat, that was because of the Crimson Python Phoenix, the strange power of law he possessed, and his eight-colored crystal. Perhaps he still had other mysteries surrounding him, but in Tian Lin’s eyes, in the face of absolute power, all his attacks would just be party tricks.

Yet at this moment he discover that he had greatly underestimated the horrifying aspects surrounding Su Ming. Without using his bizarre power of law, without the Crimson Python Phoenix following him, without even using the eight-colored crystal, he had managed to poison Ye Shen Tong to such a terrifying extent by just bringing out a new pet.

This might be related to Ye Shen Tong’s carelessness and this act of Su Ming could be considered as an ambush more than a real combat, but in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence where the strong preyed on the weak, no one could say anything about Su Ming’s actions, because… before Ye Shen Tong attacked, they had consented to his actions silently, believing that it would help their cause.

’This person’s level of cultivation might be nothing outstanding, but he’s veiled in mysteries, and he has plenty of skills. Not only could he break the seals, he also has the Crimson Python Phoenix and this poisonous wasp… In fact, if he wanted to, he might have been able to control most of the ferocious beasts in Crimson Flame Planet… Could he be a Soul Ensnarer?!’ Tian Lin’s expression turned incredibly grave. When that thought appeared in his head, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed towards Su Ming.

”Brother Su, you truly hid yourself well. You’ve made me try to guess your power for quite some time a while ago. I didn’t expect that you would be the incredibly rare Soul Ensnarer in the four Great True Worlds.” Tian Lin smiled wryly. As he spoke in a low voice, the expression on Ye Shen Tong’s Nascent Divinity immediately changed. The hostility in his gaze as he looked at Su Ming was shaken, and the shock in his eyes grew deeper.

He knew very well who Soul Ensnarers were. They were a type of cultivators who were incredibly vicious. Their levels of cultivation might not be incredibly high, but each Soul Ensnarer would possess many incredibly powerful ferocious beasts by their side. These ferocious beasts would seem to be controlled, for they would willingly follow after those cultivators. The beasts would also fight, ready to die at any time for them.

Long Li stared at the poisonous wasp on Su Ming’s shoulder with an incredibly grave expression on his face. His heart was in an extremely shocked state at that moment. After all, even if he was the one who wanted to injure Ye Shen Tong this badly, he would have had to pay a certain price for it, and he would definitely have not been able to do such a thing so easily. If he only paid attention to the results of what had happened during that instant instead of bothering about Su Ming’s level of cultivation as well as the process that had led to this, his heart would fill with weariness.

Even if the current Su Ming did not the possess the power of a World Paragon, in everyone’s eyes, he was undoubtedly a powerful warrior, strong enough to make them be wary of him and make them pay a lot of attention to his person!

And it was only at this moment that Su Ming was truly acknowledged by these old monsters and become a person who could discuss certain conditions on certain situations on equal grounds with them.

”What domineering poison, what shocking speed. Brother Su, even though I believe myself to know many ferocious beasts, I’ve never heard of such a poisonous wasp before. Even if it was the ten great ferocious insects that existed during ancient times, only the Dark Shadow Dragonfly, which is ranked second, and the Poison Ocean Silkworm, which is ranked first, could compare to it!

”Brother Su, you have many attacks in your disposal. Even now, you might still have plenty that you have not shown us.” Sun Ku narrowed his eyes to hide most of the light in his gaze, making it difficult for others to see his thoughts through his eyes. His words were also spoken in a cautious manner.

”I’m not the only one who has hidden their power, right?” Su Ming swept his gaze across the group of people before he swung his right hand. The poisonous wasp on his shoulder immediately vanished.

Sun Kun opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something else, but the buzzing of the red threads in the tunnel suddenly grew stronger, until they reached a piercing degree. As those sounds sliced through the air, an endless amount of red threads packed closely together appeared several hundreds of feet away. They were incredibly fast, and as they charged forward, they sealed off all paths of retreat.

Sun Kun’s expression changed. By his side, Long Li and Tian Lin’s eyes shrank as well. Only Ye Shen Tong’s eyes alone were full of madness, even though he, too, was shivering at that moment. He knew that it would be difficult for him to escape this place with his current condition, but if he could have all of these people die with him, then at least he would not have to die in regret.

At this moment of crisis, a glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He did not choose to use the bald crane’s power to break the seal. In his eyes, this was something that he absolutely could not reveal to others, or else, even if he solved his current predicament, many other problems would be added to his life in the future.

Besides, Su Ming did not believe for even a moment that these people before him truly did not have a way to break this seal. After all, even that cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm who had died in Su Ming’s hands had prepared many trump cards to protect his life, so these World Paragons would only have even more of these things at their disposal.

The red threads might pose quite a threat, but the larger threat came from the group members. That was the reason why Su Ming had used such a brutal and ruthless attack to intimidate them. After all, his level of cultivation was the lowest among them.

At this moment of crisis, Su Ming took a few swift steps back, pressing his back against the stone wall. The deep blue stone wall that exuded a vast amount of physical power started melting at rapid speed at that moment. By the looks of it, it was clear that he wanted to sink into the wall to avoid the red threads closing in on him.

Sun Kun narrowed his eyes and immediately formed seven seals with his hands. Seven shadows immediately appeared on his body, overlapping with each other. A sparkle appeared in Long Li’s eyes, but no one knew what sort of thoughts were running through his head. The whistles were traveling so swiftly that they sounded as if the source was right beside their ears. The red threads from several hundreds of feet away closed in within an instant and submerged all the people’s bodies.

Almost at the instant the red threads filled the entire area like the sea, the Five Direction Seal shone with an intense light around Su Ming. With the sea of red threads, Sun Kun took seven steps back, the shadows still overlapping his body. At the instant he moved back and touched the screen of light, his body phased through the screen. A slightly smug smile appeared at the corners of his lips, and in the blink of an eye, he moved back and vanished.

At that moment, a low roar came from among the red threads. It was Long Li. His entire appearance had changed, and now he looked like a layer of black fog formed by an innumerable amount of shadows. He charged against the seal, turned into powder, and with some unknown method, also went through.

It was at this moment that a loud boom echoed violently in the tunnel. It was the sound of that boundless sea of red threads crashing into the screen of light!

As Su Ming remained inside the stone wall, booming sounds continuously reached his ears. The light of his Five Direction Seal continued shattering. The poisonous wasp shone before him as well to resist the red threads, though with much difficulty.

A cold sneer appeared on his lips. He had seen Sun Kun and Long Li’s actions and knew that his deduction had been correct. All of them had their own methods to pass through the seals. They had only chosen to not use them and drag down the progress to the deeper parts of the seal simply because they wanted to cause more deaths. With more deaths, there would be one less person to share the power of the World Plane with.

’This is good as well. Let’s all depend on our abilities to reach the bottom.’ A chilling glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes.