Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming was momentarily stunned. That voice was faint, but it had managed to enter his mind. The voice claiming himself to be the Duke of Crimson Flame shocked Su Ming.

”Fellow ally from the sacred Abyss Builders, don’t panic. You are the only one who can hear my voice. We can talk about the fifth Abyss Pact later. Now, I will help you through this difficulty… The power of the seal still remains, and I don’t have an ounce of power in my body, neither can I move. Come… to me. Come to my side. Only then will I be able to ensure your safety.”

The faint voice continued to echo in Su Ming’s ears. A barely noticeable glint appeared in his eyes. He did not turn his head back to look at the skeleton in the purplish black magma.

Tian Lin wiped away the blood at the corners of his lips and began to laugh loudly. As he laughed, a hint of madness and grief revealed themselves in his voice. It sounded as if he had suppressed the grief in his heart for thousands of years, and right then, it exploded from his heart.

”You’re asking me to choose how I want to die? Then I choose to die with you!!”

Tian Lin lifted his right hand pushed against his chest. Su Ming saw Tian Lin’s physical body, which was inside his Nascent Divinity, instantly turn to pieces. This meant that he had completely abandoned his physical body. At that moment, he only had his Nascent Divinity left.

However, he could not last in this state. This body made purely from his Nascent Divinity was not what he had obtained by refining his body. Tian Lin had instead obtained it by executing the Art to have his Nascent Divinity change places with his physical body. He might have become much stronger because of it, but it was the same as burning his own potential to stimulate his soul so that he could make himself invigorated before his death. It would not last long, and due to his lack of a physical body as a support, Tian Lin’s Nascent Divinity would surely scatter away in no time.

He had chosen to die. This was his choice. If he had to die, he would do it by setting himself on fire. If he had to die, he would die… while battling against his mortal enemy, Jing Nan Zi.

”Ancestors of the Tian Family, your descendant, Tian Lin, is a unfilial son. Today, I will use my death to take revenge. Please protect me, o ancestors in heaven, so that I… can kill this person!”

An indomitable presence erupted forth from Tian Lin’s body. His Nascent Divinity’s appearance swiftly turned brown, the shade of tree bark. In the blink of an eye, his body also looked as if it had turned into a human-shaped tree.

A large number of branches crawled out of his index finger, and his body filled with the power of plants.

’He fused his Nascent Divinity together with his tree…’

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He could tell what had happened to Tian Lin and the madness he had descended into. This was the strongest power he could muster in his life after he no longer cared about death and after he had placed one of his feet into his own coffin.

Jing Nan Zi was in midair. As he held onto the long red spear, his pupils shrank slightly. A bloodthirsty fighting spirit appeared in his eyes, and a smile touched his lips under the helmet.

”I spared you in the past because I noticed that your blood was the thickest among the Tian Family. You had practically reverted to your roots…” Jing Nan Zi swept the long spear in his right hand forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The air before Jing Nan Zi shattered. As the destruction spread, whatever was destroyed turned into an invisible storm. It caused the space to distort before it crashed straight into Tian Lin.

He let out a loud roar. His cultivation base started boiling as if it had been set on fire. His speed increased by several fold, and the pressure he exuded could even rival Jing Nan Zi’s.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

These two people exchanged blows several times in midair. Every single time they attacked each other, Tian Lin’s body would shake so much that rumbling sounds would resonate in the air, and a number of places on his body would be torn to pieces. However, those spots quickly recovered. After all, his Nascent Divinity had already fused with the tree. A tree was usually incredibly tenacious, and its life force was also extremely great.

Because of it, even if Tian Lin was injured, he was able to instantly return to his peak condition. With his strength of someone who had attained great completion in the initial stage of World Plane Realm, he could bring forth a terrifying might that was equivalent to those in the middle stage of that realm once he fused with the tree, and he actually managed to fight on equal grounds against Jing Nan Zi.

At the instant another round of violent tremors spread through the area, Jing Nan Zi held the long spear in his hand and laughed loudly with his head thrown back.

”Very good, Tian Family’s child. Indeed, you didn’t disappoint me. The Tian Family has a great reputation in True Sacred Yin World… If your ancestors had not rebelled and failed, this branch of the Tian Family which you belong to wouldn’t have been imprisoned in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, either.”

Brilliant light shone in Jing Nan Zi’s eyes. As he spoke in a ghastly voice, he turned into a long arc and appeared right in front of Tian Lin.

Boom!

The space between them shattered. A powerful wave of impact swept through the area and stirred up a loud rumble that spread through all directions.

Tian Lin’s face was dark. He did not say a single word. Clearly, what Jing Nan Zi had said was not a secret to him. He rushed forward and fought against the True Guard again.

Su Ming stood on the statue of the God of Berserkers, the wave of impact that swept backwards having blown his hair upwards. He had tightened his grip around the killing sword before, but now he loosened it as his eyes shone brightly. He did not rush into the battlefield, but he did not retreat to the Duke of Crimson Flame’s side, like the skeleton had asked him to do.

Unless he absolutely had to, Su Ming would not choose to use the method the Duke of Crimson Flame had offered to him. After all, people were vicious and malicious. If he was careless, he would be doomed eternally.

Su Ming stood on the statue calmly, holding the killing sword in his hand. The image of the sun gradually appeared in his left eye, and in his right was a bright crescent moon, making his eyes appear cloudy. At the same time, a star appeared in Su Ming’s heart.

Illusion of Star, Sun, and Moon!

Right then, Su Ming cast this illusory Art against Jing Nan Zi as he was fighting fiercely against Tian Lin. This illusion was something that others could not fend against, and the slightest carelessness would cause them to immediately sink into the illusion.

Jing Nan Zi’s heart suddenly shuddered as he was fighting against Tian Lin, as if his heart was giving him a warning that an incredible danger was about to descend upon his head. His eyes began to shine, but before he could check the source of this danger...

”Jing Nan Zi!!” Su Ming let out a loud shout and jumped off his statue of the God of Berserkers. His voice was like thunder, and it had even fused with his God of Berserkers’ roar, causing an unceasing amount of echoes to stir up in this karst cave, where the space was limited.

”Jing Nan Zi.”

”Jing Nan Zi…”

”Jing Nan Zi…”

These echoes filled the air, and in the blink of an eye, they fused together, turning into a roar that sounded like the might of heavens.

”Jing! Nan! Zi!”

That roar caused Tian Lin’s ears to ring and shook Jing Nan Zi’s heart so violently that his mind became empty for a split second due to his carelessness. It was as if his soul had been called, forcing him to instinctively look towards Su Ming, who had been the one to produce that sound. What he saw was not Su Ming’s face, but the light from the sun and the moon. At the instant he saw them, he felt as if he had turned into a star. A bang immediately resounded in his head.

When his vision cleared, he saw a brilliant smile, a gentle gaze, and a hand that was stretched towards him. The palm lines on that hand were coarse, but they gave the hand a feeling of warmth and solidness on which others could rely.

”Big brother…”

Jing Nan Zi was stunned. He looked at the young man who seemed to be in his twenties and was strongly built. There was a great sword strapped to his back. At that moment, he had his right hand extended towards Jing Nan Zi.

”Brother, why are you crying when your big brother is around..? Train properly, and in the future, let’s explore the galaxy together.”

Jing Nan Zi saw himself as well. He was a boy of about twelve or thirteen years of age. He had short hair and was thin. At that moment, he was crying. He remembered it. This was something from many years ago, and it was the most precious memory in his mind - the memory related to his older brother.

However, it was also the memory he did not want to recall the most. Yet now, it had surfaced before his eyes, looking incredibly real.

”A man has to be straightforward and upstanding. Brother, you’re very gloomy, and this is something I don’t like. But I’m with you. One of these days, I’ll have your personality fixed.”

Jing Nan Zi’s ears echoed with his older brother’s voice. The scene before his eyes changed. He saw himself grown up, but the gloomy look on his face was even more prominent, and it was difficult for it to disappear. Only when he was before his brother would that gloomy expression turn into a bright smile.

”I’m his older brother. I will pay with my life for the mistake he made!!”

When Jing Nan Zi saw what event from his memory was, the smile on his face froze, then turned into grief and rage. This was the turning point in his life. It was the memory that had changed his life and was something he would never forget even if he died.

Because at that time, he had lost his older brother.

He saw himself kneeling on the ground while trembling. He saw his older brother standing before him with the great sword in hand. He saw an old man in front of them. That old man was looking at his older brother with an aloof expression on his face. Behind that old man was a girl with an even more aloof face. She was looking at Jing Nan Zi in disgust.

”I, Chen Jing, am his older brother. He’s still young, I’ll die for him.”

Jing Nan Zi saw his older brother turn his head back and flashing a gentle smile at him. As he smiled, Jing Nan Zi saw his older brother lift the sword in his head and stab his neck. As blood poured out, Jing Nan Zi roared madly.

”Since your older brother has died for your crimes, I’ll overlook this.”

Jing Nan Zi shuddered. He let out a shrill roar, unable to control himself. This was the most painful memory in his head. He did not want to remember it. He wanted to bury this in the deep recesses of his mind, but now, it had surfaced, forcing him to watch it again.

He saw himself kneeling beside his older brother’s corpse long after the old man and the girl had left. After remaining silent for a few days, his hair turned red, and a heinous aura of murderousness filled his body. His eyes became void of emotions, the only thing remaining in them being bloodlust with a touch of madness to it.

He saw himself holding his older brother’s corpse… and eating him. He had even crushed his older brother’s bones in his mouth. As his mouth filled with blood, he devoured his older brother.

”Big brother, I’ll be with you. I am you. From now on, I am no longer Chen Nan. My name will be Jing Nan!”

As Jing Nan Zi laughed brokenly, endless pain traversed through his body. That pain came from both his physical body and his soul. The intenseness of it all shattered the memory before him. When everything cleared up, he found himself still in the karst cave, and right before him was Tian Lin attacking him continuously with all his strength.

By the looks of it, the bloody taste in his mouth earlier had been due to Tian Lin’s attacks.